What pundits make of Thomas Tuchel becoming England manager: "A big surprise"
The ink is still drying on his contract, but Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as the new England manager is already under scrutiny.
Tuchel, who previously managed the likes of Chelsea and Bayern Munich, has accepted the job on an 18-month contract. Negotiations between the German and the FA progressed rapidly yesterday (October 15) and the 51-year-old is expected to give his first press conference later today.
It makes him the third non-English manager to take the reins of the Three Lions, after the late Sven Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.
With the news breaking late yesterday evening, football pundits far and wide have had their say on the appointment - and while Tuchel is a serial winner with a proven track record, the reaction has been mixed, to say the least.
Here’s what different pundits have said about Tuchel taking the England job.
Rio Ferdinand
“I think the players will be happy. They want to be led to the Promised Land.
“I know for a fact; these players will be ringing each other asking what he’s like. Asking Mason Mount. [Bukayo] Saka asking Kai [Havertz] at Arsenal, Declan Rice will be doing the same. They’ll be calling all of their mates who’ve played under him going ‘what was he like? Am I the kind of player he wants?’ That’s what all the conversations will be.
“All the players will be questioning themselves: ‘Am I going to be the one? Am I the type that he likes? I might have been in the doldrums or in the shadows before, but I think he’ll like me now.’ It will invigorate and galvanise some.
““There will be a little bit of anxiety and apprehension, but I’m sure he will settle that on day one and talk them through how he’s going to get them to be winning a trophy.”
Harry Redknapp
“He's lost his job quite quickly at a couple of clubs. It's not like he's been a massive success like Jurgen Klopp.
”He's come and gone at a couple of clubs. I'm very patriotic, I think we should have an English manager but obviously the field was very small to choose from. Englishmen don’t get jobs managing in the Premier League very often now.
“All the clubs are owned by foreign owners and they bring in foreign managers. They never look below the Premier League so the field is getting smaller and smaller. With all the money the FA spend, when the job comes along an Englishman never seems to get the job.”
Alan Shearer
“It’s happened so quickly - we said the other day that there is perhaps a reason why Lee Carsley was ruling himself out. Maybe you were right in saying he knew something that we all didn’t know.
“I really hope that they have spoken to English managers. I’m told they didn’t speak to Eddie Howe, or they didn’t sound him out at all. I’m reliably told, which is a big surprise for me, considering he would be the outstanding English candidate.”