Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as England manager has been criticised by some former players and managers but Mark Bullingham insists he is the right man for the big job
Thomas Tuchel sends message to fans after becoming England Head Coach
Thomas Tuchel gives England the “best possible chance” of winning the 2026 World Cup, FA chief Mark Bullingham has said after a number of former players hit out at the appointment of a German as the national team’s manager.
Former Chelsea boss Tuchel was confirmed by the Three Lions on Wednesday morning, signing an 18-month contract that will begin on January 1.
But the decision has not been met with wholesale approval with Danny Mills, Dean Ashton and Harry Redknapp among those to air their unhappiness that a non-Englishman has gotten the job.
Yet Bullingham has claimed that the decision to hire Tuchel – who signed his contract last week – simply came down to him being the best man for the job.
“Fundamentally we wanted to hire a coaching team to give us the best possible chance of winning a major tournament, and we believe they will do just that,” the chief executive said on Tuesday morning.
“Thomas and the team have a single-minded focus on giving us the best possible chance to win the World Cup in 2026.”
But Harry Redknapp, who in a previous generation was talked up as a potential England manager, led the backlash. He told Sky: “I’m very patriotic, I think we should have an English manager but the field was very small to choose from because Englishman don’t get jobs managing in the Premier League very often now.
“All the clubs are owned by foreign owners and they bring a foreign manager in.” Mills took a more measured approach, adding: “Let’s be honest, there will be a lot of people out there, the fact he’s German will be an issue.
“In an ideal world I would like an English manager in charge of the England team but if there isn’t a good enough candidate to do that, you’ve got to go further afield.”
Ashton, on the other hand, claimed his biggest problem was Tuchel – a Champions League winner at Chelsea in 2021 – favours a style of play that is too conservative.
“I don’t particularly enjoy watching a Thomas Tuchel team,” he said. “I think it’s more of a defensive structure. Yes, he won the Champions League with Chelsea, but Frank Lampard had got them through the group stages and Pep Guardiola picked a totally bizarre team in the final.”
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