From January 1, 2025, coach Thomas Tuchel officially leads the England team with the mission of conquering the 2026 World Cup championship. "Hopefully I can convince them and show how proud I am to be the England coach" - said the German strategist.
With a footballing powerhouse like England, of course they need an excellent local coach to lead the team. Therefore, it is no surprise that the front page of the Daily Mail described it as a "dark day" just 1 day after Tuchel was appointed.
They also commented: "We don't need Thomas Tuchel. We need a patriot who puts this country first."
To understand the anger felt by some English football fans, we have to go back about 10 years. At that time, the Football Association (FA) had introduced a comprehensive player development plan at the national level. However, that plan had not yet been implemented evenly at the coaching level.
Graham Potter is the clearest proof when he is still unemployed for 2 years after being fired by Chelsea.
Coach Lee Carsley has pointed out one reason why English football is lacking good coaches: "We need opportunities. We need more English coaches in the national team, the Premier League and the Championship. We are going in the right direction, but eventually coaches have to be given the opportunity to show themselves."
There is also the difficulty of obtaining a coaching licence in England compared to other countries. UEFA has three levels: B, A and PRO, the latter being the most important for producing top coaches. The number of UEFA PRO licences in Spain has exceeded 2,000, while in England the figure is just over 200.
Faced with this situation, the FA has no choice but to look outside to find a suitable coach who can exploit their top stars. According to The Athletic, the FA has met with 10 candidates, but only a few coaches are English.
And of all those names, none can compete with the resume Tuchel has built. To put that into perspective, Tuchel has more than twice as many Champions League appearances (67) as Potter, Eddie Howe, Frank Lampard and Scott Parker combined (31).
In fact, when the FA decided to expand its vision abroad, the results were not as expected. Not counting the interim period, Tuchel will be the third foreign coach to lead the "Three Lions", after Sven-Goran Eriksson (2001-2006) and Fabio Capello (2007-2012).
Of course, there is no denying that Tuchel is a strategist who is suited to short-term plans, notably the Champions League he won with Chelsea in 2021 and the final against PSG just a year earlier.
Clearly, the FA's main aim is to get results and with Tuchel, the feeling is that they can get closer. However, they still need a long-term solution. As Marca put it: "English football has the best house but it gives the keys to its neighbours."
