The Football Association interviewed approximately ten candidates for the job of England head coach, according to chief executive Mark Bullingham.
The FA’s CEO has also revealed that some of the candidates interviewed were English, but Bullingham insists England have hired the “best candidate for the job” in the form of Thomas Tuchel.
The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich head coach becomes only England’s third-ever foreign manager, with the German following in the footsteps of the late Sven-Goran Eriksson (Swedish) and Fabio Capello (Italian).
Tuchel was announced as the permanent successor to Gareth Southgate on Wednesday morning, having signed an 18-month contract worth around £5million a year last Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference at Wembley on Wednesday afternoon, Bullingham revealed: “We had a clear recruitment plan in place before the Euros. John McDermott [the FA’s technical director] and the team developed our ideal profile for an international coach, and a shortlist if we needed it.
“After Gareth resigned, we executed that plan and met and evaluated potential candidates. Thomas was absolutely outstanding, providing a really clear vision for the role and how we would work with our players to give us the best chance in the World Cup.”
Asked to provide further detail on the other candidates interviewed for the role, Bullingham added: “We had to maintain confidentiality for us, but more importantly for the candidates. I’ll say a few things, but I’ll hold it at that.
“We interviewed approximately 10 people, and we did interview some English candidates within that. We spoke with approximately 10 people throughout the process.
“Clearly some were more up for the role than others, but we were absolutely delighted to end up with Thomas. We believe he gives us the best chance of winning the World Cup, so we believe we’ve got the best candidate for the job.”
