Tuchel trades – Thomas Tuchel is taking over England with a different emotional toolkit than his predecessors—less burdened by past England heartbreak and more focused on the daily work of winning. From his first months in London at Chelsea to his own admission that he feels
When Thomas Tuchel walks into a stadium with England ahead of him, the past isn’t waiting in the tunnel. There’s no missed penalty haunting this German coach as he sleeps. no costly red card in a knockout tie stalking his nightmares. For Tuchel, meaning comes from the pursuit of victory—plain, relentless, and immediate.
That mindset helps explain why England’s 60 years of hurt seem less like a weight he carries and more like a target he’s willing to try to hit this summer. The attraction is obvious: winning the World Cup would look good on the CV. the rewards are vast. and the players are elite. Still, the motivation carries a quieter edge. It’s reasonable to assume Tuchel wasn’t supporting England when they lost the semi-finals to the Germans at Italia 90 and Euro 96.
What’s less simple is how personal he makes the connection. England’s World Cup opener is against Croatia in Group L in Dallas on Thursday. and Tuchel is unlikely to join in with the usual national ritual. He won’t sing the national anthem when England face Croatia. There may be criticism from the usual voices, but Tuchel seems prepared for it. He knows the words—“It is not so difficult. ” he said with a grin—and he explained that he still feels too shy to join in when the music strikes up.
There’s a sharp contrast in tone from his predecessor. Gareth Southgate almost treated the England job as a higher calling. speaking about politics and behaving like a man trying to heal the nation. Southgate even wrote an open letter about society’s divisions. which ended up being played by Joseph Fiennes in the stage and television versions of Dear England.
Tuchel’s approach doesn’t orbit politics. His title is head coach rather than manager, and he’s not interested in talking about politics. His background, too, makes it unlikely he will end up overwhelmed by the role in the way Southgate was by the end of his time in charge.
Even so, there are layers to Tuchel that fit England in ways that are easy to miss at first glance. As a young coach he rose through the German pressing school. He has been described as a “footballaholic” and is bright, engaging, and funny. His eccentric streak appeals to England’s love of a maverick. but his willingness to speak his mind can also feel un-English—hard to picture. for instance. Southgate ever calling one of his players repulsive.
The FA’s technical director. John McDermott. described Tuchel as “almost Latin in the way he speaks. ” in Inside England. a book about the team’s journey over the past decade. McDermott said: “There’s a warmth and there’s a tactileness. He comes alive when he’s speaking about the team, the players, the games.”.
Tuchel’s record and temperament have been tested far from England. He did not click with the French media when he managed Paris Saint-Germain. and he has a reputation for being a hothead in Germany. He fell out with Joshua Kimmich at Bayern Munich and has always sounded ambivalent when talking about German football.
England is where he comes alive most clearly. It felt right for Tuchel when he became Chelsea’s manager in January 2021 and led the club to Champions League glory four months later. Lockdown measures were still in place. but he spoke enthusiastically about London—wanting to discover the city’s bookshops and best coffee spots. “It’s the country. it’s the humour. it’s the way of life. ” Tuchel once said of his love of England as a country.
He’s not putting that on either. He likes zooming around the capital on Lime bikes. He has found his favourite gastropub. And when he was younger, he loved to pretend to be Chris Waddle “with the collar up in my garden” after watching the England winger during the 1990 World Cup.
Maybe that’s why it never seems like a job he’s settling for. Unlike Fabio Capello, he gets the culture. His favourite novel is TC Boyle’s Water Music. a story about a London thief and a Scottish explorer as they seek the source of the Niger River in Africa in the 18th century. Asked if he is an anglophile. he said: “I can’t explain it but it felt like this from the first weeks at Chelsea. It just felt so good to be in the country and a part of the Premier League. Every day was a gift almost.”.
He added: “What the league brings out of players and what the fans expect from the players. the coach made me feel very comfortable. I liked it from the first day. I cannot say often enough, it’s an honour for me to be England head coach. I feel basically at home when I land. I would say now: ‘I fly home.’ I fly home to my home in London. It feels like home when I land in London and I’m in England.”.
That’s the emotional through-line here: Tuchel doesn’t arrive as a distant hire. He cares, and the longer he stays, the less he seems to feel like an outsider. For England. the bet is that this version of belonging—told in jokes. coffee spots. and late-night television memories—can be turned into something harder: the kind of victory that finally answers the hunger he insists on chasing.
Thomas Tuchel England national team World Cup Croatia Group L Dallas Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate open letter Chelsea Paris Saint-Germain Bayern Munich Joshua Kimmich