Gary Neville has highlighted a major concern he has over the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as England’s new manager.
Tuchel was confirmed as the Three Lions’ new boss on Wednesday morning, and he will take charge of the England team from January in a bid to win the 2026 World Cup.
Earning £6million-a-year, he will be assisted by former Chelsea coach Anthony Barry, with current interim boss Lee Carsley taking charge of the final two games remaining in the current calendar year.
There have been concerns over the fact Tuchel is German, with the 51-year-old only the third foreign boss to take charge of the England men’s team, after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.
And a reason similar to that has raised concern for Neville, who, speaking on Sky Sports, admitted his reservations over the appointment.
"I'm not sure it fits the criteria of St George's Park and the belief in English coaches" 💬
Gary Neville on Thomas Tuchel becoming England's new head coach 🏴 pic.twitter.com/zQl7MJSbnM
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 16, 2024
‘They’ve got a great coach, that there’s no doubt,’ Neville began. ‘Thomas Tuchel has got a proven track record. He’s proven as well that he can win big knockout matches, so I think from that point of view the FA cannot be in any way criticised.
‘They’ve probably got the best available coach in Europe and the world at this moment in time. Fitting that criteria, absolutely, they are spot on.
‘I’m not sure it fits the criteria of St. George’s Park and the belief in English coaches and the growth in the English teams’ performance in the last seven or eight years. No just the first [men’s] team, but the women’s team and youth teams.
‘St. George’s Park was going to be a hotbed of proving that English coaches could get back to the top in Europe. It is proving to be very difficult, it is difficult for English coaches to get top jobs in the Premier League, that’s a given because we’ve got some of the best clubs in the world, but it’s now gone to an international manager.
‘It’s not really about Thomas Tuchel, but there is an element of disappointment in my head thinking about the fact that the FA have gone to an international coach.’
Neville himself was at one point hoping for a lengthy coaching career and was working with England under Roy Hodgson.
He went onto work with Valencia, but gave up coaching to continue his career in punditry and is now one of the most renowned faces in that area of the game.
St. George’s Park, meanwhile, is England’s base and the FA have been determined to develop English coaches via a number of courses and programmes.
The likes of Eddie Howe and Graham Potter had been linked with the role, as well as Carsley.
Neville went onto add: ‘I think we are damaging ourselves. I do think there are outstanding English candidates who could have been appointed.
‘We are in a rut when it comes to coaching. English coaching has one of the worst reputations in Europe – we don’t have a clear identity and have not built a style which is unique to us.
‘We have seen coaches from all around Europe come to the Premier League and in input their styles in our game and we’ve copied them, but in my opinion we need to build an identity and let English coaches flourish.’
‘I thought we’d left that period [of appointing foreign coaches] behind.’
