The announcement that Thomas Tuchel had been named the new manager of the England national team on Wednesday led to a vast array of responses from football fans across the country.
To many, the appointment of a Champions League, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 winning coach who was named the Fifa Coach of the Year little over 24 months ago was a clear indication of ambition.
To some though, Tuchel, regardless of his accomplishments at club level, was unfit to manage the Three Lions on one basis; he is German.
A Daily Mail editorial harrumphed that the appointment of “Herr Tuchel” was a “dark day for England”, while another Mail article argued that everyone associated with the national side “must be English down to the kit man” and instead of a highly qualified manager, what English football needed was “a patriot who will put this country first, second and third”.
Does the public share such views, though? When England play their first game under Tuchel, will fans boo when their new manager, who is not British and comes from a country that hasn’t had a monarch for over a century, doesn’t sing God Save the King?
Patrons of London’s Oktoberfest didn’t think so. The event, taking place in Hammersmith this weekend and Ealing next weekend, sees rows upon rows of beer-drinking customers wearing imitations of traditional German clothes and dancing to raucous Bavarian oompah music.
One lederhosen-clad fan, Darren Leech, a supporter of England and Arsenal, believes that bringing in foreign managers can be an asset.
“To me, it doesn’t matter what nationality he is, if he’s a good man and a good manager that’s fine by me – [Mikel] Arteta isn’t English, [Arsène] Wenger wasn’t English, look what they achieved. Why can’t he do the same?”
Carsten Raun, the organiser of Oktoberfests around the country, said Tuchel would fit in, and that Germany and England have more in common than the detractors may realise.
“It is similar, in Germany and here, we both like having a good time and beer – we miss England, we are both a part of Europe and we miss each other. We have Harry Kane, you have Tuchel now.”
Miguel Berger, the German ambassador to the UK, can see Tuchel being a success, clearly not of the opinion that he is, as the Mail put it, “just another out-of-work foreigner” who wants to “raid the football bank of England”.
“I think it’s a small minority that thinks that and I found it a bit outdated, the side has had foreign coaches before, so to have a foreigner is nothing new.
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“It’s a brave decision, but it’s a very clear and a very clever one. It’s based on criteria, it’s based on experience – the news that Tuchel was appointed to such an important post, back in Germany, made us feel very proud.”
While Germany’s political ambassador to the UK might be a fan, Germany’s comedy ambassador isn’t. Comedian Henning Wehn says bringing a coach from abroad robs English football of its identity.
“It’s poor that there are so few English managers in the top flight and then fewer who could manage England, and then the national team. They might as well rename themselves the Wembley warriors, because it’s got nothing to do with England any longer.”
Tuchel has been given an 18-month contract and one goal – to win the World Cup. Whether his appointment is a success can be judged in summer 2026, but at Oktoberfest, Leech said the rest was unimportant: “Just focus on the football.”
