So apparently I’ve been living under a rock this week, I’d completely missed the huge England news till this morning!!!
Just incase you’ve somehow missed it too, THOMAS TUCHEL IS ENGLAND MANAGER!!!!
For the third time this century the FA have put their faith in a foreign coach to lead the national team.
Sven Goran Eriksson was undoubtedly an incredible trail-blazer in this respect, with the 5-1 destruction of Tuchel’s native Germany in Munich on September 1st 2001 a treasured childhood memory for me.
Eriksson left the job having managed a triplicate of Quarter final appearances at major tournaments, so when the wally with the brolly oversaw England’s first failure to qualify for a major tournament in 14 years the FA tried to repeat that success with Fabio Capello.
The Italian’s time in charge was far less successful, with the game of the ghost goal seeing England dumped out of the 2010 World Cup and faith in the national team at it’s lowest ebb in decades.
So for anyone keeping score that’s one great success with a foreign coach and one that was far less so, now the FA is looking to win the best out of 3 or maybe hoping that ‘third time lucky’ holds true.
Tuchel is taking over a team in it’s best state since Italia ’90, with his predecessor Gareth Southgate turning the team from the laughing stock they were under Roy Hodgson to world beaters.
This recent success has transformed many of us supporters through the journey of cynics, doubters to the destination of believers.
We went from losing in the round of 16 at Euro 2016 to 3 semi-finals in 4 tournaments under Southgate, to the point that losing the final this summer was seen as such a failure that large sections of the press were calling for his head.
Oh, how times have changed.
That is the weight of expectation that Tuchel will be dealing with from the moment he takes charge of his first game in the new year, but having managed top club teams in France, Germany and of course England the ex-Chelsea manager is used to that.
His positive approach to his new job is epitomised by his call to us all to FORGET THE PAST and LOOK FORWARD TO THE FUTURE
Wilkommen Thomas Tuchel. Viel Glück und dank im voraus
The Football tourist 