Antagonistic Thomas Tuchel is ripping up Southgate’s England playbook

An England player was surprised when Thomas Tuchel FaceTimed him one evening. Not just that the England manager had done it but then at how long the call lasted and how much he just wanted to chat. It ended up feeling like he could not get Tuchel off the phone.

It is, also, an example of the conundrum of Tuchel. When the Football Association drew up their shortlist to succeed Sir Gareth Southgate he was the one who was the most difficult to make contact with, which is ironic since he had expressed an enthusiastic interest when it appeared Southgate might step down after the 2022 World Cup.

But when the FA finally did speak to Tuchel they, again, could hardly get him off the phone. They were taken aback by his enthusiasm, his detail and his chattiness. Indeed Anthony Barry, Tuchel’s assistant, has talked about the “quick catch-ups” with his boss that last five or six hours and how he is pinged WhatsApp messages at any hour of the day or night.

Similarly Tuchel gives the impression to his squad of wanting to be “one of the lads”. The 52-year-old German can be quirky, even a bit goofy and clearly has a sharp sense of humour. One of the images of England’s World Cup preparations has Tuchel wearing a hoodie with the hood up, in the searing Florida heat during England’s pre-tournament camp at the Palm Beach Gardens Tennis and Pickleball Center. It was 90 degrees and was Tuchel’s way of not getting sunburnt.

Tuchel sees himself as a bit of a character. It is interesting that his favourite novel is Water Music by TC Boyle. It tells the story of a real-life Scottish explorer and a fictional English rogue as they seek the source of the Niger River in Africa in the 18th century. The book is sprawling, colourful, humorous and bawdy. It is the rogue who proves to be the better man and survives.

And, therefore, maybe Tuchel sees himself also as a bit of a loveable rogue. A bit of a wild card. Someone who says it as it is and does not really worry about having a filter. Who can be disarmingly candid. And gets things done. “I am so far away from being a politician that you cannot imagine,” Tuchel once said.

He is absolutely clear who is in charge and is not afraid to call players out. There is, of course, the infamous Talksport interview when he said his mother sometimes finds Jude Bellingham’s on-field behaviour “repulsive”. Rightly Tuchel later apologised and it was a mistake which he is still paying for, justifying much of the debate that persists around Bellingham, and there is also regret on how it has intensified the focus on the young midfielder.

But – broadly – Tuchel did believe that Bellingham needed to be a bigger part of the team and find a role, especially around captain Harry Kane and vice-captain Declan Rice, even if he accepts that much of what he criticised is purely born from a fierce desire to win.

Tuchel was therefore pleased that Bellingham stayed with the squad, even though he was not fit enough to play, and continued his rehab work with England rather than return to Real Madrid during the March friendlies.

When England played their behind-closed-doors friendly against lower-league club side Miami FC last Thursday, the day after Bellingham starred in the 3-0 win over Costa Rica, the 22-year-old was stood on the touchline watching and later posing for photographs with the opposition players. He was the one they sought out.

Tuchel will also have been delighted at how Bellingham sprinted into a tackle just eight seconds into that Costa Rica game and with the maturity he showed in handing the ball over to Anthony Gordon when he had initially wanted to take a penalty.

Tuchel talks about creating a “brotherhood” – a word Dan Burn became the latest to use when he spoke to the media after England’s first training session on arrival at their Kansas City base for this World Cup. It is clearly a buzz word the players have been encouraged to repeat.

Southgate spoke about the players telling their stories and creating new stories for England. Tuchel talks about the World Cup campaign being “chapters”. So, there is a comparability there.

But then Tuchel also sets up the potentially divisive dynamic of pitting player vs player for a position: Bellingham vs his lifelong friend Morgan Rogers; Gordon vs Marcus Rashford; John Stones vs Ezri Konsa vs Marc Guéhi. It is made clear to them they are direct rivals with, interestingly, Tuchel talking about having “14, 15” starters. The rest of the squad know their place and he likes to create hierarchies.

Jeopardy also matters to Tuchel. Indeed in the early months he appeared to struggle with being England manager and it is no coincidence that his reign caught fire when the team went to Serbia in their qualification campaign – expected to be their trickiest tie – and smashed them 5-0. That night Tuchel’s eyes lit up. It justified the FA’s belief that he comes alive in crunch games while he has sought to recreate that edge, not least with real internal competition – and an insistence that big names do not matter.

Tuchel is the most tactile of managers – he has even been known to excitedly jump on a player’s back in training – who relies on emotion. And yet he is extremely analytical and organised and is not bothered about bruising egos.

He always had that ruthless streak but, certainly, he learnt from what it was like to coach Paris St-Germain when it was the “bling-bling” (to use the disparaging phrase of its president Nasser Al-Khelaifi) super-club. He regretted how he handled it and after that it was Tuchel’s way or the highway.

During England’s first training session at the Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Tuchel was stood on his own, with his hood up, quietly observing. He did not give the impression he wanted anyone near him.

Take Harry Maguire. The consensus is that the Manchester United centre-half, such a stalwart of England tournaments until Southgate ruled him out of Euro 2024 through injury, should be in the World Cup squad.

Tuchel recalled him for those March friendlies but apparently did not share the view that Maguire had played well. He acknowledged he has a “super-strength” in attacking the ball in both penalty areas but was less than enamoured by the 33-year-old appearing not to follow instructions.

Maguire’s persistence in hitting long diagonal passes, in particular, is understood to have annoyed Tuchel and his staff who did not believe he was following the plan. Certainly at least one coach then believed Maguire’s subsequent public statement that he was “shocked and gutted” at his omission, even before the squad was announced, also justified the decision that he should not be part of this “brotherhood”.

Tuchel also dropped another player after being extremely disappointed with the way he trained during one camp – and was only eventually persuaded to recall him because the player requested a call and apologised.

He also showed he had no problem calling out and dropping big names such as Phil Foden and Cole Palmer because, he bluntly put, they simply had not performed well enough. We have gotten used to Southgate taking a more cautious approach, especially after he felt caught out when he publicly criticised Chris Smalling by saying he was not good enough on the ball. That would not bother Tuchel.

Tuchel’s approach is refreshing for many players especially after the way the Euro 2024 campaign panned out. England reached the final but it was not a happy campaign and there was a sense that it was one too far for Southgate who, it is said, became too remote and got the mix of the squad all wrong after leaving out popular squad members such as Jordan Henderson and Jack Grealish.

The importance of Henderson now cannot be under-estimated. The 35-year-old, Tuchel has said many times, sets the tone in training and it is revealing how Bellingham talks about the midfielder. “The best guy I’ve ever come across in football,” he said last week and if Henderson speaks, Bellingham listens. He loves the fact that Henderson captained Liverpool, won the Champions League and Premier League, and yet “has no ego”.

Even so Tuchel also admitted he had to be persuaded to recall Henderson before becoming an avowed convert.

Ego is also an interesting concept for Tuchel. He is a serial winner. He has won the Champions League. He is in that elite group of coaches and can walk the talk – and he knows it. He has that air about it.

But there is also a belief from those close to him that while it is his mission to put “a second star” on the England shirt – win the World Cup again – the expectation does need to be tempered. Maybe England are not as good as some think they are and they need to hear that?

When Tuchel talks he always has a smile on his face and there was an endearing, boyish enthusiasm in the footage that the FA released from inside the dressing room in Latvia, after World Cup qualification, was secured. Tuchel is celebrating, banging a table and talking about fulfilling his dream in going to a World Cup. An Anglophile, even as a child, he has spoken about his affection for England, wearing his collar up like Chris Waddle.

But there is irritation. Why, for example, does Tuchel steadfastly refuse to divulge which “five or six” players are in England’s so-called “leadership group”? Is it because Bellingham is not a part of it?

In West Palm Beach, before the friendly against Costa Rica, Tuchel even admitted he did not like the fact that the FA had released even more footage – this time of him delivering a speech talking to the players about how winning the World Cup would be like climbing Mount Everest and he privately complained about being asked the same questions.

Tuchel has broken down England’s preparations into two camps, two chapters, in two locations. In Florida it was all about heat strategies, Whoop bands (health monitors), vibes and a bit of family time. A soft landing with training in the morning and afternoons and evenings off. Families and friends spent time at the team’s Belgrove Resort and Spa hotel and there was golf, organised by Harry Kane, with professional golfer Brooks Koepka.

Even the training was relatively low-key with speakers placed at one end of the pitch blasting out music, with the songs requested by players and randomly selected by former Arsenal masseur Joel Harris. The tunes included Luther Vandross.

In Kansas City the real work begins. Tuchel has described that switch as “going into the tunnel” – perhaps a reference back to Serbia, where England played at the home of Red Star Belgrade which has an extraordinary 780ft long tunnel – when “the tension will rise just naturally” and tournament mode started.

Unlike Southgate, Tuchel does not appear to believe in holding the players’ hands. A huge amount went into creating the right environment in the camp under Southgate – with quiz nights and games – and while facilities such as a specially built basketball court and table tennis at their hotel, The Inn at Meadowbrook, are provided for the current squad, Tuchel expects them to just get on with it a bit more even if the preparation is no less detailed. If anything there is more science and analysis and focus.

Also, unlike Southgate, Tuchel does not see being England manager as a loftier calling. Since leaving the job, Southgate has turned his back on football. When he eventually goes Tuchel will get a big club.

With England, Tuchel will not involve himself in wider issues – something the FA also does not want him to do – or delve into politics. Partly that is because of his nationality but, mainly, it is because the focus of his remit is far narrower. He wants to do one thing and one thing only: win.

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