Thomas Tuchel's England in-tray as Three Lions boss finally begins new role
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Thomas Tuchel finally begins his journey to the World Cup on January 1. And his mission is quite simple: to turn England into world champions. Actually achieving it is the really difficult part. Tuchel does inherit an England team which is fourth in the FIFA world rankings and they have been consistent challengers for the major tournaments.
World Cup semi finalists, they have also reached back-to-back finals in the European Championships, so the leap should not have to be that big. But Tuchel’s task is to get England over the line, to turn them into the nearly men from Gareth Southgate ’s reign and into winners.
That means bringing a new tactical approach, getting a balanced, settled team and potentially rebuilding an ageing defence. Tuchel admitted at the World Cup qualifying draw in Zurich that he must convince any doubters - but he insists he can do that. His reign begins with back-to-back qualifiers at home to Albania and Latvia. They are expected to win them both. He will be a regular face at Premier League grounds. Proving himself will be his first aim because there has been a lot of noise about a German managing England and Tuchel will know every minor setback will be met with cynicism from some quarters.
But surely a massive part of recruiting Tuchel was from his time at Chelsea … he took over a team with huge potential, big players, they were drifting - and yet his shock treatment meant they were crowned European champions five months later. Tuchel only has an 18 month contract and so the task could not be clearer. And it was also obvious that the FA moved on Tuchel to ensure they did not lose him to another big club job.
