So, Thomas Tuchel has become the new England mens’ football head coach, replacing Gareth Southgate… and the media debate over his appointment has started already.
The English FA’s decision represents another act of desperation in a bid to end the team’s long trophy drought. Bringing in big-name successful foreign club coaches doesn’t always guarantee success… as Fabio Capello and the late Sven Goran Eriksson found to their cost, however the reality is that English coaches simply aren’t good enough. Tuchel, like others before him, will not only face the intense scrutiny from sports reporters, but also from former professionals and England fans alike. He will also have the problem of having a declining talent pool to choose from, as the number of English players in both the FA Premier League and the EFL Championship for example continues on a long and steady decline. Many of them rarely get a chance to play for their clubs and they are often seen as a risk and some cases, expensive by head coaches.
Tuchel will take up the job early next year…. and he’ll need a lot of luck, but any realistic hopes of England ending many years of hurt will certainly be disappointed.