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If 2024 took England to the brink of the trophy that has eluded them since 1966, 2025 brings the arrival of a manager with the track record of winning silverware that Gareth Southgate lacked. Southgate’s achievement in twice coming agonisingly close, denied by penalties in the Euro 2020 final and by an 86th-minute decider four years later, earned him a knighthood. Thomas Tuchel is ineligible for such an honour. But he has medals from the Champions League, the Bundesliga and Ligue Un. A manager whose contract only lasts until 2026 will be charged with winning the World Cup. He has at least already won the Club World Cup.
Tuchel officially starts work on New Year’s Day, though he attended December’s draw in Zurich to determine England’s opponents in World Cup qualifying: Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra do not promise to form a pool of death. “It’s a difficult group,” said Tuchel but qualifying has rarely presented a problem for England since Steve McClaren failed to reach Euro 2008 and the German is a manager with a proven expertise in knockout football. Besides his Champions League win with Chelsea, Tuchel steered Paris Saint-Germain to the final and Bayern Munich to within a few minutes of it.
His reign starts in earnest against Albania on 21 March. There are some issues to navigate first. If Southgate excelled as an ambassadorial figure, Tuchel comes with complexities. He can be charming and witty in his second language; in any tongue, he has proved blunt and has fallen out with people.
The England job can call for diplomatic skills. Especially, perhaps, for a German. Lee Carsley’s interim reign began with a needless furore about his decision not to sing the national anthem. A Birmingham-born manager of England’s Under-21s is also a former Republic of Ireland international. He also seemed taken aback by the level of scrutiny. That, at least, will not surprise Tuchel.
But his nationality is not merely a problem for those with outdated notions about Germans. Part of Southgate’s success lay in his cultural revolution, in finding a way to make England feel special. It is harder for an import to adopt his brand of patriotism. Many felt that all leading footballing nations ought to be able to find one of their own to manage their national team. Tuchel has to win over doubters. “I have to prove myself and to the people who are maybe a bit concerned – to prove to them how much it means to me and that it’s a dream job for me,” he said.
And when eight players pulled out of Carsley’s November squad in one day, it suggested Southgate’s legacy was at risk, that England could lose its allure. Certainly, Harry Kane implied so. “England comes before anything,” said the captain. “England is the most important thing you play as a professional footballer and Gareth was hot on that.” Some players, he suggested, had “taken advantage” of the situation. Perhaps a manager of Tuchel’s charisma and strength will prevent mass withdrawals.
As it is, Carsley’s caretaker stint added to the complexities by adding to the talent pool. He gave eight debuts – to Noni Madueke, Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White, Curtis Jones, Morgan Rogers, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento and Taylor Harwood-Bellis – with several pressing a case to stay involved.
Meanwhile, some of the English players to have flourished for Tuchel in the past may eye recalls after being omitted of late: injuries account in part for the way his Chelsea charges Ben Chilwell, Reece James and Mason Mount slipped out of the picture, but his Bayern recruit Eric Dier was unfortunate not to make the Euro 2024 squad. It is intriguing, too, that Tuchel tried to sign both Kieran Trippier, who retired from international football in September, and Kyle Walker, whose recent displays suggest his international career perhaps should end, for Bayern. The rather younger Anthony Gordon was a target when he was at Chelsea, while he did buy Raheem Sterling, who has not played for England since 2022.
But Tuchel could have a capacity to surprise. He has promised a “clean slate” for Ben White, who took himself into international exile. He will face a similar challenge to Southgate and Carsley: does he try and cram in all of England’s major attacking talents? England were less than the sum of their parts in Euro 2024. Meanwhile, Cole Palmer’s remarkable rise could make Phil Foden the most imperilled of Southgate’s starters. There is the question of where Jude Bellingham plays. As Tuchel has confirmed Kane, his biggest buy for Bayern, as captain, there may be no repeat of Carsley’s decision to bench him in Greece when Ollie Watkins started instead. Carsley was an advocate of youth: with a short-term contract, Tuchel has less reason to be. Carsley seemed to be phasing out Harry Maguire. It will be intriguing if Tuchel brings him back.
Part of the issue is systemic. Tuchel prospered at Chelsea with a 3-4-3 formation, though he has normally used a back four elsewhere. England have a surfeit of players in most positions but a shortage in two – left-back and defensive midfield – that hampered Southgate at the end of his reign.
When Tuchel begins attending games, there will be attention on his choice of fixtures, on what that means and who he may be watching. His first squad announcement, in March, could be box office. It is likely to shape the following 15 months. Before then, Tuchel plans to talk to both Southgate and Carsley. After it, England may have two friendlies, with potential dates in June and October, though there is limited scope for experimenting. Tuchel, though, is appointed to bring clarity of thought.
And, as was the case twice before, because he has a greater track record than any English manager available. Like Sven-Goran Eriksson, he is an Anglophile. Like Fabio Capello, he is a Champions League winner. Unlike both, he has already managed in England. It makes him the best-qualified foreigner to take charge of the men’s team.
Yet outperforming Southgate is no simple task. One possibility is that Tuchel emulates him. Much as he has won, he has a history of losing finals: two FA Cups, one League Cup, one Champions League, one German Super Cup, one Coupe de France, a German Cup in his Borussia Dortmund days. England were strangers to finals before Southgate elevated them from mediocrity. He raised their ambitions to the point where they targeted Tuchel. Germans have often ended England’s dreams of glory: in 1972 and 1990 and 1996 and 2010. Now a German is charged with taking England to heights they only reached against West Germany, and in 1966.
