When the Football Association were looking for somebody to replace Gareth Southgate, they decided they needed a proven winner. Southgate – England coach for eight largely progressive years – had taken the team to two European Championships but had fallen over the line on both occasions.
The FA decided they needed better and over the next two weeks and – hopefully three World Cup matches – they will find out if they got the right man.
Here in America, the path to the World Cup final on July 19 in New Jersey has opened up a little after England’s titanic victory over Mexico in the co-hosts’ own stadium on a stormy and unforgettable Sunday night.
If England took a huge step forward in the majestic environs of the Azteca Stadium, then it was their manager who led them there. Hitherto in this tournament, Thomas Tuchel had seemed hesitant over his best line-up and even a little in denial about how modestly his team had been playing.
In Mexico, though, we saw the coach that England thought they had hired after Southgate stepped away at the end of Euro 2024 in Germany.
The 52-year-old was smart, patient and then decisive on a night that saw kick-off delayed and then seemingly last for ever. England played in the determined and committed image of their manager and it was fabulous to see.
In Mexico we saw the coach that England thought they had hired after Gareth Southgate stepped away at the end of Euro 2024 in Germany
Southgate’s great gift to English football was to restore a pride and a connection and an identity. But the fact remains that England reached the end of his long tenure still standing outside the winners’ circle
Southgate was a very good England manager. He laid the platforms for what Tuchel’s England are building on now. Tuchel’s England environment has its own identity but it came from what his predecessor left behind.
In terms of coaching and certainly in-game management, the FA believe they have hired an upgrade. Southgate was previously manager of Middlesbrough and England Under 21s. Tuchel had managed – and won – at clubs like Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. Maybe now that is beginning to show.
Southgate’s great gift to English football was to restore a pride and a connection and an identity. It became enjoyable to watch England again. But the fact remains that England reached the end of his long tenure still standing outside the winners’ circle and that had to change.
England have some way to go out here. If they play like they did against Ghana and DR Congo when they face Erling Haaland and Norway this weekend in Miami then they will be coming home. Norway are organised and resolute and in Haaland have genuine star quality. England will need to defend better. Despite their late heroics in the Azteca, England’s back four had earlier looked vulnerable in the air once again.
But Tuchel’s strategies and tactical moves were proactive when they needed to be on Sunday, and quick and sharp when reacting to Jarell Quansah’s game-changing sending off early in the second half.
England had planned for all eventualities when it came to coping with the high altitude on Sunday night. What they hadn’t reckoned with was playing for so long with a man down. No wonder so many of Tuchel’s players fell to the floor when the final whistle came.
By full-time, England were playing with five across the back with substitutes Dan Burn and John Stones performing heroically. Djed Spence was also on and made his best contribution of the tournament while Jude Bellingham was pretty much up front and Anthony Gordon was playing in the centre of the midfield.
It’s at times like this that you find out an awful lot about a group of players and indeed their coach. They only come through storms like that if they truly believe in what their manager is telling them.
Tuchel gets his message across to the England players during a hydration break in the Azteca
Tuchel called on Dan Burn to help see the game out in Mexico and he performed heroically
Tuchel doesn’t like the water breaks that have been such an irksome part of this tournament but has been smart enough to make the most of them.
He said two weeks ago in Boston that he had started to view them as opportunities to get messages across to players that they couldn’t normally hear while the game was taking place.
In Mexico, England scored twice from quick counters shortly after the first-half hydration break. In the second half, the stoppage in play was used to impart a simple rallying cry. It worked.
All of this can be the difference between victory and defeat. Carlo Ancelotti, the Brazil manager, came up with what was needed as his team turned round their last-32 game against Japan but couldn’t do similar as the five-time winners succumbed to Norway in New Jersey shortly before England kicked off.
As a result, Brazil are on their way home and questions are being asked about the great Italian’s future in the job. That’s how fine the lines can be between success and perceived failure at this level.
Southgate succeeded in moving the England national team into the light and out of the dark ages.
When it came to the other bit, he didn’t quite have what it took to tick the box. Euro 2024 felt like a tournament too far and despite his team’s run to the final, it too often felt as though his instincts – particularly regarding in-game decisions – weren’t quite what they needed to be. His time was up.
Tuchel, who led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2021, is a proven winner
Tuchel passed that test on Sunday night in the most extreme circumstances possible. He looked like a manager having the right kind of impact on his players.
The German has three league titles and a Champions League on his CV from spells at PSG, Chelsea and Bayern Munich. It’s a heavyweight collection.
He was hired by the English FA to win the biggest trophy of all. Suddenly his team – for all that they have improving to do – look like contenders at the very least.
