Tuchel: German coach a loss of face for England?
England's men's national football team will be coached by Thomas Tuchel from 2025. The fact that a German will be in charge of the team's tactics in the country where the game was born is causing a stir.
Pathetic capitulation to arch-rivals
Columnist Damian Reilly rails in The Spectator:
“It's over. Can there be a more depressing, or more obvious, sign of national decline than this utterly abject capitulation at the sport we love most - the game we invented, for God's sake - to our greatest rivals? ... This latest slap in the face, the appointment of Tuchel, hurts the most, not least because he's so obviously brilliant. Dynamic, intelligent, charismatic - a proven winner - he's everything Gareth Southgate wasn't. No doubt on day one he will solve the impossible riddle and do what no England manager in my lifetime has seemed capable of doing: namely, picking our best players in their correct positions and getting them to win matches consistently.”
Admired around the world
This is a triumph for English football, The Guardian counters:
“The comparative lack of fuss over Tuchel's nationality, aside from the usual suspects, confirms the extent to which the traditionally insular culture of English football has been transformed for the better. Over the past two decades, the domestic game has become a global magnet for foreign players and managers. Their talents have helped make the Premier League the most watched, and arguably the most exciting, in the world. ... In a country where football - and especially the England men's team - had often become a vehicle for the expression of bellicose nationalism and casual xenophobia, this has represented much-needed progress.”
Focus on improving national players and coaches
Internationalisation and national teams are like oil and water, the Times of Malta sighs:
“The FA's decision to appoint Thomas Tuchel as the new England manager is so, so sad. ... The manager of a national team, any national team, should be from the same country as his players. It should be compulsory, one of the rules of the game, a point that isn't even up for discussion. ... This should be about one country's best taking on another country's best. If that best isn't good enough, then so be it. Do something about the lack of resources at your disposal to ensure you do have the best players and coaches if you want to win something.”