A new era is afoot for the Three Lions but, in typical English fashion, there’s a delay.
The decision-makers at the FA appointed former Under-21s boss Lee Carsley to take the reins after Gareth Southgate stepped down this summer, Carsley’s hat was briefly in the ring for the permanent job, until former Chelsea, PSG and Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel was unveiled in mid-October to much fanfare.
Fans are no doubt eager to see what the new manager has planned for an England team packed with generational talent, but they will have to wait a little while longer to see his ideas come to fruition.
Thomas Tuchel will not manage England during the November international break
After months of speculation, multiple candidates and a short window when it felt like Carsley was about to revolutionise the England national team on his own, Tuchel — recently ranked the tenth-best manager in the world by FourFourTwo — was revealed on 16 October as the man who would take the Three Lions into the 2026 World Cup.
However, a footnote to the headline news confirmed that Tuchel, along with his incoming assistant Anthony Barry, will not commence work until 1 January.
FA CEO Mark Bullingham stated in a press conference following the announcement that it made sense for Tuchel to start fresh in the World Cup qualifiers at the beginning of next year, rather than with the tail end of England’s Nations League campaign this month.
“It was important for me to narrow it down into a project and not lose the focus,” the German said, as quoted by the Athletic. “I wanted to have a clean start.”
Added to Tuchel’s preferences is that his assistant, Barry, will be finalising his work with Portugal this month before taking up the role, and Carsley had initially been handed the slate of Nations League games to take charge of.
His January start date means that his first game in charge will be in March 2025, likely to be a World Cup qualifier, but defeat to Greece this month would leave England needing to compete in the Nations League play-offs in March instead — which Tuchel would have to take, potentially scuppering his one-tournament focus slightly.
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In FourFourTwo’s opinion, while it makes sense on one level to keep Carsley’s agreement in place and have a clean break between tournaments, international camps are few and far between — plus the interim boss has made no secret of his desire to return to his old job.
The earlier Tuchel gets in, meets the players and starts implementing his own style, the better, surely? Regardless, that isn’t to be the case, so strap in for what might be your final taste of Carsleyball.
