Officially As Manager Of The England National Team, Thomas Tuchel: Sorry I'm In German Passport

Thomas Tuchel (right), the new manager of the England national team. (X/@England)

JAKARTA - Thomas Tuchel has officially become the manager of the England national team. He also apologized for having a German passport.

Tuchel replaces Gareth Southgate who took office after bringing England to be runners up in Euro 2024. This is Southgate's highest achievement because previously at Euro 2020 he was also only escorted to reach the final before losing to Italy.

Southgate's position was temporarily replaced by U-21 national team manager Lee Carsley as England played in the UEFA Nations League. The FA initially targeted Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola to deal with England.

Despite the appearance of a number of names, including Mauricio Pochettino, Harry Redknapp, Graham Potter to Tuchel himself, the FA tends to be on Guardiola and is ready to wait for the manager to complete the contract until the end of the 2024/2025 season.

However, Guardiola did not give a definite answer. Carsley actually had time to raise hope. But the embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Greece made him no longer a candidate. FA finally managed to attract Tuchel to replace Southgate.

Tuchel's appointment actually remains a surprise. The reason is, he had negotiated with Manchester United as an effort to replace manager Erik ten Hag. Now, MU is forced to rely on Ten Hag who again failed to show his maximum performance in the Premier League competition.

Tuchel himself became the third manager from outside England after behind Goran Eriksson (Sweden) who handled The Three Lions from 2001 to 2006 and Fabio Capello (Italy). Capello handled teams from Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard from 2008 to 2012.

The FA recruited Tuchel with his assistant, Anthony Barry. The coach, who spent his career as a player in small English clubs, has become Tuchel's assistant when he handled Chelsea and Bayern Munich. Barry has also been Roberto Martinez's assistant coach while coaching the Belgian national team.

"We are proud to be able to recruit Thomas Tuchel who is one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best coaches in England," said FA CEO Mark Bullingham when introducing Tuchel.

Bullingham said Tuchel was not the only choice. According to him, the FA has interviewed or negotiated with no less than 10 candidates. But the man from Germany was finally taken away.

Although it has been designated as the new UK manager, the former Chelsea manager will only serve on January 1, 2025. Tuchel receives a contract to handle England until 2026. He will earn a salary of 5 million pounds or approximately 101 billion rupiahs annually. The former Bayern coach is targeted not only to pass England to the 2026 World Cup.

When asked about his status as the third foreign manager to handle The Three Lions, Tuchel said as quoted by The Sun, "I apologize if I am on a German passport."

Tuchel confirmed that even though he is a German, he has no problem dealing with national teams from other countries. Moreover, this 51-year-old man is very motivated because he has worked at the Premier League club and brought Chelsea to win the 2021 Champions League.

"But I can confirm to British fans that I am very motivated by the Premier League. I have the passion and ambition for the national team from this country. I also really like this country and love working here," he said again.

"I hope to convince them and show that I am proud to be the manager of England. And, I will prove it," he said.

As a German, Tuchel was also asked if he would sing the British national anthem when he was about to start the match. Previously, Carsley refused to sing the national anthem even though he was an Irish man.

"I understand that. Mark stated it was a personal decision whether you want to sing [the national anthem] or not. Some managers do it, but others don't sing it," said Tuchel.

The former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain coach implied no objection if he finally sang 'God Save The King'.

"I have not decided yet. What is clear is that your national anthem [England] is indeed full of emotion and encouraging. I felt it at Wembley and a number of matches," he said.

"But whatever the decision, I still show my respect for my duty, state and national anthem. This is certainly a new thing and I need time to consider it," he said.

Tuchel further said that it would not be easy to handle the England national team in today's era. The reason is, England is filled with talented players. Apart from Harry Kane, who he has handled at Bayern, England has Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Declan Rice and Cole Palmer. He is expected to take them to the biggest stage in the World Cup.