New England boss Thomas Tuchal will reunite with several players he’s previously coached when he takes over in January – and they’ve made their feelings about him pretty clear.
The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss was confirmed as Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor by the FA yesterday in a move that rocked English football.
Tuchel has never managed internationally before but has a strong record at club level with success winning the Champions League and Bundesliga. In his time in Germany most notably worked with England captain Harry Kane, as well as defender Eric Dier.
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As for his spell at Chelsea, the majority of the dressing room was English with Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher, Reece James and Fikayo Tomori all tasting European success under the German.
This fact will likely help their case when it comes to selection for the national team, but what do these players really think of him? We’ve taken a look at some of the things they’ve publicly said about Tuchel in the past.
Harry Kane
(Image: Getty Images)
Tuchel was ultimately responsible for Kane’s £100million move to Bayern Munich, and the England skipper has great affection for him.
He initially reacted to rumours of Tuchel taking the job and backed him to succeed, telling Sky Germany: “To be honest, I haven’t heard anything specific about it yet. That’s why I can’t really comment on it until it’s officially announced. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
“I obviously know Thomas very well from the last year. He’s a fantastic coach and a fantastic person. I’m sure the FA will contact me when they know more.”
Eric Dier
Dier was another player brought in by Tuchel during his time at Bayern and spoke about his good relationship with the coach and spoke about him after his sacking.
“Regardless of whether I have a good relationship with a coach or not, If the coach has to leave and I’m his player, I should feel somewhat responsible. It’s never nice when someone loses their job,” Dier told Kicker.
“I actually have a good relationship with the current coach. I am grateful to him, but also to the club and Christoph Freund, because he was a big factor in allowing me to move here. A departure like that is always disappointing.”
Fikayo Tomori
Although Tomori was technically still a Chelsea player during their Champions League winning season under Tuchel, he was on loan at AC Milan.
Tuchel never got the opportunity to see him play with the Englishman’s fate decided before his arrival. Speaking about the German at the time Tomori confessed that he hadn’t contacted him and ‘remained focused’ on Milan.
The 26-year-old defender only has five caps for England and will have to fight his way back into the starting 11 having fallen down the pecking order.
Ben Chilwell
Chilwell has struggled with injuries, and although he has fond memories of Tuchel, lack of game time this season means he’s unlikely to be called up.
Now 27, he was a key part of the Blue’s successful Champions League campaign making 10 appearances. The left-back spoke at the time about how an honest conversation with Tuchel helped turn his season around.
“‘Me and the manager had a very honest conversation where he did say to me: ‘You know, I feel like mentally at the moment you’re just, in training, you’re pushing a bit too much to try and get back in the team. We love you here, we know the qualities you possess. Just relax a little bit. You’re going to get back in.’
‘For me, that was brilliant to hear – and then it was just about being patient and making sure that I was ready so that when I was called upon to play, I could do my best for the team.’
Reece James
England are lucky to have several world-class right-backs in their ranks and under Southgate and Lee Carsley, Reece James struggled to get a look in.
He was a prominent figure under Tuchel at Chelsea though, and was one of the first players to react to his sacking, posting a picture of him and Tuchel on social media with the caption “Thank You”, and a blue heart emoji.
James is yet to make an appearance for the Blues this season so will be keen to get minutes ahead of Tuchel’s official England start date in January.
Conor Gallagher
Gallagher is another player who spent time on loan during Tuchel’s days at Stamford Bridge. His impressive spell at Crystal Palace during the 2021-22 season led to them drawing Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
The midfielder needed permission to play against his parent club, but the request was denied by boss Tuchel despite a cheeky plea from the player’s dad.
Gallagher spoke to Sky Sports at the time about a chance encounter with the German in a pub, saying: “I was out for lunch with my parents and my girlfriend. He [Tuchel] turned up with a couple of the staff.
“It wasn’t even me [who spoke to Tuchel], it was my dad! He goes, ‘Any chance of him being able to play in the semi-final?’ and Tuchel just went, ‘No chance’. He just laughed it off.”
Mason Mount
The most important English player during Tuchel’s Chelsea success was Mason Mount. The attacking midfielder assisted Kai Havertz’s winning goal in the Champions League final against Manchester City and will forever be etched in history.
Mount opened up on Tuchel’s influence in an interview during his spell at Stamford Bridge, saying: “We had a meeting where he put down everything that he wants us to do, how he wants us to play, how he likes to manage.
“He told us everything and then we went out and trained and we had a game the next day. So it was a crazy kind of turnaround but he was so clear on what he wanted and how he would like us to play, very clear on the roles and responsibilities, that it made it very easy for us to transition.”
Now a Manchester United player, Mount has struggled for game time and getting minutes for his club will be more of a priority than England right now.
Raheem Sterling
Sterling made a surprising move to Chelsea from Manchester City in 2022 and revealed that a conversation with Tuchel ultimately convinced him.
“It’s something I don’t want to go into too much detail but the conversation I had with the manager wasn’t the longest conversation in the world,” Sterling told the Mail.
“You can see how genuine he was and how much he wanted me here. The club has already got that winning mentality but it is about keep doing that every single year and keep winning more and more trophies and building on previous seasons – and that’s what top managers like Thomas (Tuchel) do.”
The 29-year-old is now on loan at Arsenal and will be hoping to force his way back into the England setup in the new year.