WHAT HAPPENED?
Ex-Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss Tuchel has stepped into the international coaching arena after officially taking charge of the Three Lions on January 1. He has only committed to an 18-month contract.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
That deal will take him through a shot at tangible success in the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer. The 51-year-old is already facing questions of whether he is the right candidate to bring 60 years of hurt for England in the men’s game to a close.
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An uninspiring start to his tenure, which has included narrow World Cup qualifying wins and a friendly defeat to Senegal, have many doubting that the Three Lions can roar their way to a historic success in 12 months’ time.
WHAT DORIGO SAID
Ex-England defender Tony Dorigo, speaking in association with Leeuwslots, told GOAL when asked where Tuchel’s troops stand in the global pecking order: “I’m not sure! I’m not sure anyone is after the last few games that we’ve had. They’ve not been amazing.
“Clearly we will qualify, that is a given with the teams that we are playing. It’s then trying to play against those big boys and where do we sit? If you look at our recent performances, you can’t put us up in the top five or six at all.
“Do I think we will improve and get better? Yes, I do. But at the moment I’m not 100 per cent confident of that. We have got some talented players. Thomas Tuchel has got loads of experience, he will work it out in the end. But you haven’t got long to work it out and tournament football is very different.
“I wonder, Thomas Tuchel in a tournament situation, maybe all that experience and knowledge will come to the fore and we will achieve something, but we certainly have the players to do that.”
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Dorigo added when asked about some of Tuchel’s early selections, which are considered to show a lack of long-term planning as experience is favoured over potential: “We have got so many good players. Just like Chelsea as a club, there is no point getting the best players, you get the best team.
“How do you produce a team? Maybe that is what Tuchel is doing. It’s characters, it’s making sure that the pieces fit together, and that’s why we are seeing some left-field choices, but will that make the team better? It doesn’t look like it has so far but I think that is probably what he is working through, to see who he can trust, who works with the way that he wants to play. We just have to trust him and believe that it will come good.”
WHAT NEXT FOR ENGLAND?
England will not be back in action until playing host to Andorra in a World Cup qualifier on September 6. They will then travel to Serbia three days later looking to maintain a perfect record that has seen them collect nine points without conceding a goal from three games so far.
AFP