New Delhi: Post the UEFA Euro 2024 final loss to Spain, the then England manager Gareth Southgate resigned from his duties after failing to guide his nation to a first major trophy since 1966. The Three Lions have been without a permanent manager since then with U21s boss Lee Carsley being named as interim manager till a permanent successor is selected by the FA.
According to reports by reputed English publications like BBC and Skysports, the English FA has had initial conversations with the former Chelsea manager. While the deadline for the application for the post of the national team manager closed about two months ago, it was said that the FA hadn’t yet interviewed anyone for the role. However, since the Three Lions lost to Greece in the UEFA Nations League, the search for Southgate’s successor has accelerated.
The FA’s Technical Director, John McDermott wants to get a manager who has a proven track record of winning trophies and Tuchel fits that bill perfectly. The German manager has been a winner wherever he has gone and has won silverware with all of his major clubs. He won league titles with both PSG and Bayern, and guided the Parisians to a UCL final. He went a step further with Chelsea and won the UEFA Champions League along with the Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.
BREAKING: Thomas Tuchel is in talks to become the next England manager 🚨🏴 pic.twitter.com/yD8jEFYfBi
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 15, 2024
The FA were initially interested in signing current Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola as the next England manager once his contract with City expired in 2025. They even approached the Catalan in the summer when Southgate had just resigned but there have been no updates on that front. With Pep still being non-committal regarding his future, Tuchel has emerged as the frontrunner for the role.
The conversations with Tuchel are currently at an early stage with the FA just entering conversations with his representatives, the keenness shown by the FA hints that the deal could be done very quickly if there aren’t any major roadblocks in the discussions. Skysports reports that if everything goes well, we could be seeing Thomas Tuchel in the English dugout when the Three Lions participate in the UEFA Nations League next month.
Other Candidates in the mix
Who will be the next England manager? 🤔🏴 pic.twitter.com/xxzFP9oeYz
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) October 15, 2024
Thomas Tuchel emerging as the leading candidate to be named England managers comes as a surprise a little bit considering England’s philosophy of considering only English managers. However, with the national team failing at the final hurdle in back-to-back UEFA Euro campaigns, it seems as if the FA is now giving more priority to managers that can deliver the silverware rather than which nationality they belong to.
There were several high-profile names being linked with the England job. Newly-appointed USA manager Mauricio Pochettino was another non-English manager in the mix alongside both Tuchel and Guardiola. Current Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has been long linked with the England job while another former Chelsea boss, Graham Potter, was also seemingly waiting for the England call.
If Tuchel does end up being appointed as the England manager, he will become only the third non-English manager in the history of the Three Lions. The other two were former Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello, who managed England from 2007 to 2012 and former Manchester City boss Sven-Göran Eriksson, who was the first non-English manager to take charge of the Three Lions from 2001 to 2006.
The German manager, who was most recently in charge of Bavarian giants Bayern Munich, has held talks with the English FA over the vacant England managerial position. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
