“I only have a German passport. » From the first minutes of his press conference, Thomas Tuchel wanted to defuse the controversy. Criticized for his appointment as England coach, only the third foreigner at the head of the Three Lions, the 51-year-old technician, notably stationed at PSG between 2018 and 2020, was keen to recall his “passion for the Premier English League” and how he was “proud to be an English manager”.
“I’m proud to be here, I’m proud to represent England. I want to put the second star on this jersey, he insisted. We will work hard to achieve the biggest goal in football, realizing our dream at the 2026 World Cup.”
“The federation is missing a few trophies”
Tuchel said he was ready to take on the challenge of ending the Three Lions’ decades-long wait to win a major trophy for the first time since the 1966 World Cup on home soil. He will begin his 18-month contract on January 1, 2025, with the Englishman Anthony Barry as his assistant and, in his sights, qualification for the 2026 World Cup organized in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
“Now I have to live up to it. I know that the federation is missing some trophies and, of course, I want to contribute to making that happen,” Tuchel said during his presentation press conference at Wembley.
“Fundamentally, we wanted to hire a coaching team that would give us the best possible chance of winning a major tournament, and we are confident they will achieve that,” commented Football Association (FA) chief executive Mark Bullingham . During the recruitment process, “Thomas was very impressive and stood out for his vast expertise and dynamism,” added the manager, who interviewed ten candidates.
The technician succeeds Gareth Southgate, who left in July after an eight-year reign (2016-2024) punctuated by two successive finals lost at the Euro against Italy then Spain.
