Last week the English Football Association (FA) threw caution to the wind and appointed a German to manage the English national team. He is Thomas Tuchel, a professional football manager of many trophies and many sackings.
He won trophies for Paris St Germain (PSG), Chelsea FC and Bayern Munich and although he was dismissed from each of those clubs, the hope of the English FA is that he will win the 2026 World Cup in the US. His annual salary will be £5 million, and his contract is for 18 months from January 1, 2025. It is a short stint that was announced shortly after England’s 1-2 defeat by Greece at Wembley on Thursday October 11, which suggests the appointment of Tuchel is more a stopgap to suit his tendency to win a trophy and move on.
But the appointment of a German to lead England is a controversial choice that may haunt the English FA. Tuchel is the third foreign national to be appointed England manager. The other two were the late Sven Goran Erikson 2004-07 who was Swedish and Fabio Capello 2008-12 who was Italian. Neither was particularly inspiring: Erikson’s famous “first half good, second half not so good” sums up his uninspiring style, and Capello did not speak English well enough to be inspiring.
When he accepted the offer as England manager from the English FA, Tuchel apologised for having a German passport which he must have said tongue in cheek to play down that he is German. Perhaps he was referring to the fact that post Brexit the FA will have to apply for a work permit for him to work in England. There is a specific sportspeople work permit route for clubs, but the idea that the job of England manager is being offered to a foreigner for want of local talent is not plausible and questions may be asked why the FA did not appoint someone locally.
It is more likely, however, that he apologised for being German because he was conscious of the football rivalry between Germany and England. As a 51-year-old modern German he may be oblivious to their historical rivalry in two wars last century. The problem is that English fans may not be as oblivious, because unlike the position in Germany, the two wars are celebrated in England where for some the historical rivalry between the two countries is bound up with their rivalry in football.
The English football league is the most successful in the world, but the English national side has not won a trophy since 1966 when it defeated Germany 4-2 to win the World Cup at Wembley under Alf Ramsay, a taciturn Essex man.
By contrast Germany has won the World Cup three times since 1966 and is England’s favourite enemy. Of all the nationalities in the world, a German as England manager is a choice loaded with hubris. It seems the English FA is in denial about the rivalry between England and Germany and that, as a German, Tuchel will find the robust no-holds-barred media environment in England very challenging.
Generally speaking great footballing nations like England should have English managers, because they are not unlike national leaders just like players are often national heroes. The nationality rules set by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) have strict requirements about the eligibility of players to play for their national side, but there are no nationality requirements at all for national team managers.
Nations have national football associations that appoint national managers who choose national teams for international football tournaments such as the World Cup from a pool of players who have to be nationals.
Players are eligible to play for a national team if they have the nationality of their football association by birth, or descent from parents or grandparents born in the territory of their association or naturalisation by lengthy residence there – usually five years. This column dealt with nationality law last week and the crucial requirement of a genuine link in international law is broadly reflected in the FIFA rules that form part of international sports law.
Also, all players who have played in official international matches for one nation cannot switch to another nation except in tightly regulated cases and can do so only once. First team players have to show they held both nationalities when they were first fielded; it was not more than three times before they turned 21; and they have not been fielded for three years since and never in a final tournament of a FIFA World Cup or other confederation cup.
The idea behind the restrictions in switching national sides is to avoid richer European nations hijacking great players from Africa and South America by granting them nationality after they spend lengthy periods playing in Europe.
Despite its lack of success internationally, England has plenty of local talent from which to choose an inspirational leader rather than a master tactician. Managing a national side and managing a club are completely different. A national side requires players to gel together to represent their country after only just a few training sessions together, whereas club players train for matches every week.
Above all else a national side needs a national leader to inspire and motivate the players to play with a passion and a determination to win for their country. Players are trained professionals anyway, what they need from their manager as national players is a sense of national purpose.
Alper Ali Riza is a king’s counsel in the UK and a retired part time judge
