Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as England’s manager has caused a ruckus in English media. This is as Gareth Southgate’s successor is German, rather than English.
However, this is not the first time in football history that a foreigner has coached a national team. Matter of fact, this is not the first time that the England men’s National Team will be coached by a foreigner.
The Lions and Lionesses
USMNT and USWNT
The United States Men and Women’s National Teams are currently being coached by the two previous Chelsea managers. Emma Hayes is the manager of the USWNT, whilst Mauricio Pochettino is in charge of the USMNT.
Chelsea legend Emma Hayes has already won her first major trophy with the US team, despite starting her new role on 1 June 2024. The USWNT who struggled in last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, with Sweden knocking out the title defenders in the round of 16 saw themselves back in the spotlight as they won Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics with Hayes.
Pochettino, who just like Hayes left Chelsea after the completion of the 2023/24 season, had his first return to action as US head coach. The Argentine has only been in charge of two games; a 2-0 win against Panama followed by a shocking 2-0 loss to Mexico in friendlies earlier this week.
Greece
Greece won the Euros in 2004. Their head coach at the time was Otto Rehhagel, former Borrusia Dortmund and Bayern Munich manager. Rehhagel is German.
It was an exciting Euro, in the sense that the ‘big guns’ were all put down early. Germany, Spain, and Italy were eliminated in the group stage. Greek meanwhile, led by Rehhagel beat defending champions France in the quarterfinals, and France in the opening game and in the final.
Rehhagel, the German, won Greece their first and only major tournament.
Big deal, or No?
African teams have been coached by foreigners many times. It is also slightly common in the history of other parts of the world, it has happened multiple times, and it has sometimes been successful, as seen in some of the scenarios mentioned above.
For one, Englishman Roy Hodgson took Switzerland to the Round of 16 of the 1994 World Cup. He also earned them qualification for Euro 1996. Both were major achievements, as Switzerland had not qualified for a major tournament since the 1960s up until Hosgson took the reigns.
It is also worth noting, nine men have managed multiple foreign nations at men’s World Cups.
For the FA to appoint Thomas Tuchel over an Englishman should not cause the ruckus that it has. In modern football especially, it is more than normal to see foreign managers in different respective national leagues. It is no longer about where you come from but rather, the skillset that you bring to the role. Tuchel has been chosen as the man for the job. Whether he succeeds or not will not be due to his nationality.