Just barely winning a Bundesliga title thanks to mishaps from Borussia Dortmund and following that up with a lackluster domestic season is not exactly the prerequisites you would think would be required for the manager’s job for the England national team, but that is what has occurred. Former Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Dortmund and Mainz manager has been hired eventually replace interim Three Lions manager Lee Carsley, who has been overseeing the national team since Gareth Southgate made the decision to step down after the European Championships this summer.
Tuchel’s tenure at Bayern did not quite work out as it was expected when he was hired to replace Julian Nagelsmann, despite him winning a Meisterschale and very nearly getting to a Champions League final. It became rather clear that he had lost most of the dressing room and the front office and supervisory board knew it was time for a change, which is, by no means, a discredit to his overall pedigree as a manager in Europe. There is simply no taking away from the fact that he won the Champions League with Chelsea and multiple pieces of silverware with his tenures at both PSG and Dortmund.
Reacting to Tuchel’s new appointment, both Max Eberl and Vincent Kompany had nothing but favorable things to say about the former Bayern manager.
“It’s a good choice for them. Thomas is an outstanding coach and knows English football very well. Just as a joke, he didn’t get Declan Rice here, so now he’s going to Declan Rice,” Eberl remarked when he was asked about Tuchel getting the England job in the press conference ahead of Bayern’s Bundesliga clash against VfB Stuttgart (via @iMiaSanMia).
“Thomas has a very high reputation in England, so I’m not surprised that he landed a top job there,” Kompany replied when he was asked about his predecessor’s new role. Kompany and Tuchel will have had plenty of familiarity with one another given they both previously managed teams in the Premier League in Burnley and Chelsea and Kompany spent many years playing in the league and country with Manchester City, as well.
Photo by Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
In a bizarre, more full circle way of looking at things, so long as nothing catastrophic happens with either Tuchel or Nagelsmann with England or Germany, it will be the two most recent Bayern managers competing against one another at the 2026 World Cup and perhaps even the latter stages of the UEFA Nations League. Irony and fate have a funny way of coming together in instances like this, but time will tell how Tuchel’s time as England manager will go and eventually be remembered.
