- Thomas Tuchel will have to carry out several tasks when he takes up his new job
- He may still have months until his first match, but the tasks are coming quickly
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With much approval and much ridicule, Thomas Tuchel has been announced as the next man to prowl England’s sidelines.
His mission is simple: win the World Cup. Add that extra star to the badge. Do what you can to end… how many years of pain now? Fifty-eight.
Gareth Southgate and Lee Carsley leave this team in a good place for the new boss, but he will be faced with tenure-defining decisions from the start.
Tuchel must find a way to maintain the harmonized culture that Gareth Southgate has created (despite Germany’s history of feuding) which includes deciding on some familiar faces.
Mail Sport’s Kieran Gill presents the five things on Tuchel’s back.
Thomas Tuchel has several tasks in store as the new England boss, despite the good position the team is in
Fostering the same team spirit that Gareth Southgate managed is a key challenge for him
Choose your tactics – quickly
Find your favorite system – preferably one that makes the most of our wide range of attacking talent – and get to work perfecting it. If that’s the 3-4-3 that saw Chelsea win the Champions League against Manchester City, then so be it. Before we know it, the 2026 World Cup will be here.
Launch a charm offensive
With Tuchel not technically starting work until January, now is the time to do your homework before the big exam. The English manager can give that a boost by becoming a regular in the Premier League stadiums and spending a lot of time with the players, but also with the managers. It helps to keep them on side if you borrow their big names every now and then.
Rekindle old flames or move on?
We will have to wait and see if Tuchel leans on players he has worked with before. That includes Chelsea, where Reece James and Ben Chilwell were his full-backs in 2020/21. The left and right sides of the defense are incredibly important in today’s match, and we saw at Euro 2024 how Gareth Southgate was criticized for his lack of left-back selections.
Figuring out how to get the most out of our attacking talent in an effective system is a must
He must decide what to do with stars he has coached before, such as Reece James and Ben Chilwell
Keep the stars on the straight and narrow path
Maintain the ‘Team England’ atmosphere that existed under Southgate, who did well to ensure there were no cliques or club bickering in the camp. Ensuring his players put the Three Lions first and their egos second will be a task for Tuchel, who must decide whether Harry Kane should continue as captain after refusing to confirm this on Wednesday.
Take home a trophy
Win! The pressure on the England manager if that doesn’t happen is as intense as in football. However, Tuchel will have to wait to discover his opponents for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in March as the draw will not take place until mid-December.