When Tuchel arrived at Chelsea, he promised to build a team 'no one wants to play against.' Now, coaching the England national side, and with a World Cup less than a year away, he’s built one no one wants to watch.
That may sound harsh. He has only had five games in charge, four of them wins, and the German always knew he was with England for a good time, not a long one. But anyone who watched the 3-1 defeat to Senegal or the laboured 2-0 win over Andorra would struggle to believe this team is ready for next summer.
Should England fans start to worry?
Just a handful of games
Tuchel was named England manager just under a year ago, since then, he’s only had chance to coach five games. In comparison, Sir Gareth Southgate took change of eight over the same period, with Roy Hodgson enjoying the most time with his player having managed 14.
A lot of that is his own doing, however. Tuchel was adamant he wouldn’t officially take over until January 1st, allowing interim boss Lee Carsley lead England for the Nations League games Republic of Ireland and Greece.
The clock is ticking but Tuchel keeps chopping and changing his side, seemingly not yet sure of what his best eleven or even squad is. He has one job, win next year’s World Cup, now is the time to implement the identity he wants his side to have.
Bringing the Premier League to international football
It’s no longer controversial to say that the English top flight is the world’s most dominant national league, and Tuchel has spoken several times of how important importing that supremacy into his England team is.
Tactically, it’s clear that his plan is to make his side more physically imposing. Recalling Ruben Loftus-Cheek and handing Elliot Anderson, two player who are uniquely hard to dispossess due to their physicality is an indicator.
He also spoke to reporters about the importance of long throws, a tactical tool that is once again in vogue in the Premier League ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Serbia on Tuesday.
"I told you: the long throw-in is back," he said.
"But we do not have a lot of time. But once we arrive at the World Cup, all these things matter, so we will also talk about long throw-ins, we will talk about long kicks from the goalkeeper and not only playing short.
"But we cannot put everything into four days of training. But these things will matter. And let's see. I need to reflect now with my assistant coaches. All these patterns are back, and crosses are back as well."
The Premier League has become obsessed with these marginal gains. Long throws are a little more tangible than Mikel Arteta trying to replicate the Anfield atmosphere with large speakers during training, however. If the goal that wins England the World Cup come from a long throw, no fan will be complaining.
Thomas Tuchel’s England tactics so far
In three of his five games, Tuchel has deployed a 4-2-3-1, while in the other two is played around with a 4-1-4-1 and even a classic 4-4-2 that would make Sam Alardyce and the English football traditionalists proud.
During build-up, the team has shifted between a 2-3-5 and a 3-2-5, with the full backs playing a pivotal role in each structure. As is often seen in sides like Chelsea and Man City, one full back will hang back and form a back three, while the other will join the attack.
It’s also not uncommon to see the full-backs invert and join Declan Rice, who appears to be one of the first names on the team sheet, with the shape becoming a 2-3-5 in attack, and allowing the second central midfielder to join the attack.
Tuchel seemingly agrees with Southgate that allowing Harry Kane to drop a little deeper to receive the ball, which in turn brings opposition centre-backs out of position, allowing for the wingers/inside forwards to run into space.
Verdict
Tuchel undoubtedly has some work to do but he is also the victim of a perceived reputation. He was never known for playing ‘nice’ football, looking at his Chelsea side that won the Champions League, they were built on a solid defence, now holding the record for fewest goals by a team winning the tournament with four.
He is a cup specialist but don’t expect England to turn into the prime 2010 Spain, all he cares about is getting across the line. So, the football may be a little dull, especially while he gets to grips with everything, but he should ultimately be judged by whether he wins the World Cup.
No pressure, Thomas.