Thomas Tuchel reveals plan to break England’s history of underachievement

New England manager Thomas Tuchel has revealed how he tends to rewrite the country’s history by bringing huge success.

Tuchel was announced as England’s manager on Wednesday as he replaced Gareth Southgate who left the role after Euro 2024. The former Chelsea manager signed an initial 18-month contract up to the end of the 2026 World Cup.

His first task will be to qualify the country to the World Cup and also deliver England’s first senior international trophy in men’s football, a task that has been impossible in the past 60 years.

Tuchel has now revealed his desire to create both a style of play and a winning culture that forgets about the past when he begins work in January.

Asked by BBC Sport if he believes the claim that being England senior men’s manager is the ‘impossible job’ in football, Tuchel offered his plan to break the cycle of underachievement.

“Nothing is impossible in sport, first of all,” he said. “The [FA] is there, the women did it, the Under-21s did it, so there is no reason [we can’t win]. I think at some point we have to free ourselves from history. We have to focus on the process and this will start from January.

“Then, we need to find guidelines, we need to find principles, maybe also from club football, to which me, the staff, the players, can live up [to] whenever we need. From there, hopefully create a style of play, but also an atmosphere that pushes us the extra percentage that is needed. Then, of course, we need a bit of luck, we need to qualify [for the World Cup], but we believe we can do it.”

Tuchel’s appointment has sparked reactions from fans and pundits. According to many, the Germany tactician is not suitable to coach the English national team.

However, Tuchel says he feels protected from the inevitable scrutiny because he trusts both his own coaching abilities and the FA.

“I have to prove myself ready,” he explained. “I don’t want to prepare myself [for scrutiny] because we all don’t know what is coming.

“First of all, I trust myself as a football coach and I trust myself because I have had very good talks with the federation, which was the most important, so I feel protected from that side.

“I think we both know what we have with each other. I know very well what they demand from me, I think I can deliver exactly that, and the first things is to win the staff over, win the players over, then hopefully the supporters, and the media will follow.”