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Thomas Tuchel has opened the door to staying on as England’s manager after next year’s World Cup and has said his future does not necessarily depend on leading the team to glory.
Tuchel, who handed recalls to Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden on Friday, signed a contract with the Football Association in October last year only till after the tournament. That arrangement gave a short-term feel to the role, but the German has hit his stride in recent months and has said managing England has rejuvenated him after draining spells at Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
Speaking after announcing his squad for the upcoming games against Serbia and Albania, Tuchel said extending his deal was “a possibility” but stressed that he was relaxed about holding talks before the World Cup. There is the precedent of Fabio Capello convincing the FA to give him a new contract before the 2010 World Cup only for England to have a disastrous tournament and go out to Germany in the last 16.
Tuchel, who has already secured his team’s World Cup spot, is keen to avoid such distractions. Equally, he was clear that whether he deserves an extension should not be judged solely on whether he makes England’s world champions for the first time since 1966.
“It will be a huge distraction if I give you a certain level that is a minimum demand to myself,” he said. “I have this in my head clearly. Maybe we can talk openly about it before the World Cup, because why not? Then there is another level to it. There is a certain state we have to reach that I demand from myself. Otherwise, it’s not good enough.
“But I think we all understand that when it comes to knockout football it’s: ‘How do we go out?’ It’s different if we lose 3-0 in a round of 32 to a huge underdog and we completely underperform, or you lose with a red card in the _second minute for the goalkeeper and you go out and you put up a big fight in a quarter-final and you go out on penalties and play 120 minutes with 10 men.”
Tuchel added: “I am the first one to agree that titles matter and to agree that it’s about winning, winning, winning – and still feel the fans will understand if we go out with pride, if we go out with a top performance, if they were happy to support us. Or if it was like: ‘They could have done better and they were striking in training and they were drinking’ … Then they will clearly understand whether this is the right way to continue or not.”
There was a clear sense that the nature of the job is working for Tuchel. “I know from many years in professional and club football what makes me happy and what brings the best out of me,” he said. “I feel re-energised and I love to work with the players and be close to the Premier League. I know also the level of support and trust that I have.
“I feel that and I know I need that to be the best version of myself. I’m very relaxed. I was the one to push for a short contract, to streamline it and go to the World Cup, because I was not fully aware of the job and what is needed and how I would feel in the job. Nothing has changed. The focus is the World Cup and the federation knows that I’m happy. They play a big part in me feeling good and re-energised.”
Tuchel is especially enjoying the slower pace of international football. “I know where I am and I like where it’s going,” he said. “The best thing, the big tournament, is yet to come.”
The former Chelsea manager revealed that his contract does not include any clauses that will be triggered by England’s performances at the World Cup. He would not rule out signing a new deal before the tournament but added that it is not a demand from his side.
