Everything Thomas Tuchel said in his England press conference

Jacque Talbot
Jacque Talbot
  • Updated: 16 Oct 2024 08:16 CDT
  • 4 min read
Thomas Tuchel, Bayern Munich, 2023/24
© IMAGO

Thomas Tuchel has been officially announced as the new manager of England, with the Football Association unveiling the German at a press conference on Wednesday.

Article continues under the video

The German reached a deal with the FA after it became apparent he was the frontrunner for the role. When he begins his job in January, he will be taking over in a formal capacity from Gareth Southgate, who led the nation to two finals at major tournaments but ultimately lost, with England having been led by under-21 manager Lee Carsley on an interim basis for the last four matches.

The appointment of Tuchel marks England's third permanent foreign manager, following Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello. Southgate resigned from the position after losing the Euro 2024 final to Spain over the summer.

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It was announced on Wednesday morning that Tuchel would be taking over, while a press conference was set for the afternoon.

Speaking in a short video on social media ahead of his unveiling, Tuchel said: "Hi guys, Thomas here, quite nervous as this is my first message as England head coach. I'm at Wembley, where else? That's also a reason to be a bit nervous, I think that's a good thing.

"I can promise you I'm very excited, very honoured and I will do everything I can to qualify for the World Cup first of all, and then have a successful World Cup. Try to get a second star on our shirt. All the best."

Here is everything that the German said at the conference.

"Hello to everybody. I am of course very excited and honoured to be here as coach of England."

"I understood very quickly that it is a big job. Gareth Southgate and the FA have done brilliantly with consistency in tournament results. A quarter final, a semi final and two finals in the last four tournaments is outstanding. We will build on everything Gareth has built.

"It feels big and it feels like a privilege. It feels very new because I come from club football.

"Mark [Bullingham, FA Chief Executive] and John [McDermott, technical director] made it very clear that it is about football and that excited me straight away. Then we found so many things that suited my approach and hunger to achieve special things.

"I always wanted to come back to England, that was one of my ambitions. Within weeks, we found a vision, a project and an adventure to be a part of. I know there are some trophies missing in the federation and I want to make it happen."

[On national anthem] "I understood from Mark that it is a personal preference. I haven't made my decision yet, I have to be honest with you. Your anthem is very moving, I've experienced it a number of times at Wembley. I will always show my respect to the role.

"We are there. The group of players proved that they are there. The consistency is impressive. It shows we have players that compete in the strongest leagues in the world day in day out.

"We have the ingredients. We will need luck, momentum and little decisions in the game. We feel confident to add something from club football that can maybe help.

"We have to prove ourselves all of the time. We have to live up to these standards but I'm very confident that we are there. Extra special things can happen.

"I can understand it. I think we deserve a fair chance. I think we have credit for what we did in the country.

"Maybe this counts for a British edge on my German passport. We will try and convince them by the way we play."

Read more about: Premier League

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