It said plenty about Thomas Tuchel’s easy charm, his ability to read the room and say the right things. In this case, the incoming England manager had read the walls, noticing a famous quotation from Pelé in one of the Wembley hospitality boxes and logging it. That could work, he thought.
The press conference room at the stadium was packed, the sense of anticipation palpable. It tells you something when the TV cameras at the sides are pointed at the audience. They wanted to get a sense of the scale of the occasion. Moments before 1.30pm, John McDermott walked in to take a seat towards the back, the Football Association’s technical director accompanied by Anthony Barry, the incoming assistant manager, and Olaf Meinking, Tuchel’s PR man. And then there he was, the angular figure of Tuchel, blond highlights in his hair, striding to the stage with the FA’s chief executive, Mark Bullingham.
