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Thomas Tuchel says England will play “attacking football” – but only so long as it’s winning football, as he declared the national team is “ready” to win the World Cup.
The Football Association (FA), meanwhile, insisted the only reason the 51-year-old won’t officially start until 1 January – despite signing his contract on 8 October – is due to the “timescale” fitting.
Interim coach Lee Carsley, whom FA CEO Mark Bullingham made a point of thanking, will continue as planned and take the remainder of the Nations League campaign: fixtures home to Ireland and away to Greece in November.
And Tuchel spoke of how he will build on that work, as he addressed questions about England’s style.
“They have to be balanced and our style of play has to bring us results,” he said. “We are playing with players for the best league and the biggest competition in the world. We have a group of young, hungry players. We are desperate to win a title, so we have all the ingredients, so I think we should try to implement this into our style of play.
“I think we should play an attacking style of football and we should try to emphasise a physical side of the game, because this is what English football is all about and this is what excites our supporters, and this is what suits the players.
“I understand clearly that we don’t have a lot of time on the training pitch. Normally, I love the two or three days before a match to prepare and do training sessions, and then you go. We will heavily rely on that because we don’t have much training time, and that’s why it is maybe important to have clear messages and to not overcomplicate – and to find a clear structure where we can demand certain things from the players, and where we can also show their full potential.
“This is then my job to find this structure, these demands, and then demand it from the players. I think we cannot only focus on the results, we cannot hide behind the certain style of play which does not give us results. It has to go hand in hand.”
Tuchel also left open the possibility of staying longer than his 18-month contract, having been asked whether it is “win or bust”.
“It depends, he said. “It does not help the more often we speak about it, but it should be out there and then we can set the standards and set the values and principles, because then we have to live up to them for 18 months. Let’s judge it when we have done it.
“If we decide it was a failure, then we will not continue. If we decide it was not a failure, then we will continue. Let’s see. No one can predict the future. It feels absolutely right for me to do so, it feels clear and it feels easy for me to explain. When it’s easy to explain, it’s normally good.”
As regards why he isn’t starting immediately, Bullingham insisted it was what suited both sides.
“We always said to Lee he would have three camps, and we were very clear he’d run the Nations League campaign. When we first spoke to Thomas, he wanted to have a singular focus on the World Cup, so it made sense on both sides for him to start on 1 January.”
Bullingham also dismissed the idea that appointing another foreign coach was a failure for the FA’s pathway system and ideology, making specific reference to assistant coach Anthony Barry.
“If you look at St George’s Park overall, I think it has been a really good success,” Bullingham said. “Our pathway is really strong, both from a coaches and players point of view. There are a lot of fantastic young coaches around, and obviously Anthony is one of those.
“I think any federation in the world that is looking to hire a senior manager, clearly you would love to have five to 10 domestic candidates who are coaching clubs in your domestic league, challenging and winning honours in your domestic league and European football. We are not quite in that place at the moment.
“As we set out our process, our priority was to find someone that can give our players the best possible chance to win. We have found that, and we have got Thomas – and we are delighted with that. In the background, we have got to keep helping our young coaches to get the best opportunities they can, and to get them good opportunities at clubs. We would love to have more English coaches managing in the Premier League, for example. I think there is a balance there.”
Meanwhile, Tuchel enthused about why he loves English football so much, saying: “It’s the country, it’s the humour, it’s the way of life, it’s the attitude from the supporters to the game and what they demand from the players.
“I said it many times, it shapes the character of the players, how they live their expression, how they approach their training towards a team effort. For me, it was a one-of-a-kind experience. To breathe that again is a big privilege. I am very happy to be back.”
The German was, however, reluctant to go into too much detail on why he thinks England have gone six decades without a trophy – a wait he is now charged with ending.
“I think it's just nuances, it's just details,” he said. “If you lose on penalties in a final, who would I be to say I know what you did wrong when you were there? You were there.
“We, or they, have been in two finals, I think. Semi-finals and quarter-finals. Lost each of them very, very close, each of them could have gone either way. The genuine belief is that we are there, that we are ready.”
