Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter

Thomas Tuchel has a very clear way of playing.

The turnaround he produced at Chelsea, taking over after Frank Lampard was sacked in January 2021, to winning the Champions League in May the same year is one of the most impressive I have seen in football.

In his team that won the Champions League at Chelsea he had three English players in Reece James, Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell.

Those three are away from the England squad now, but if Reece James is able to regain fitness and form he will be in and around the England squad and a possible option to come in and know what is wanted from the German.

England captain Harry Kane was signed by Tuchel when he was manager of Bayern Munich and had the best season of his career scoring 44 goals in 45 games.

BBC Radio 5 Live

England and Tuchel: ja or nein?

Nicky Campbell is taking your calls right now on BBC Radio 5 Live on new England manager Thomas Tuchel.

You can listen here, or watch it through the live stream at the top of this page - just click the 'Watch Live' button.

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Thomas Tuchel may not have managed in international football before but he has worked with numerous England players.

Here's some of the players he has managed at club level:

• Harry Kane - Bayern Munich
• Eric Dier - Bayern Munich
• Mason Mount - Chelsea
• Reece James - Chelsea
• Ben Chilwell - Chelsea
• Callum Hudson-Odoi - Chelsea
• Ruben Loftus-Cheek - Chelsea

• Raheem Sterling - Chelsea
• Ross Barkley - Chelsea
• Tammy Abraham - Chelsea
• Conor Gallagher - Chelsea

Thomas Tuchel managed England captain Harry Kane for a season when the striker joined Bayern Munich from Tottenham Hotspur in 2023.

Kane scored 36 goals and assisted eight times in 32 Bundesliga appearances.

He also scored eight goals in the Champions League as Bayern reached the semi-final stages, losing to Real Madrid.

The stats show Kane appears to thrive under Tuchel's management.

Image source, BBC Sport

Remember this? Premier League heritage.

Thomas Tuchel's handshake with Antonio Conte following Chelsea's dramatic 2-2 draw with Tottenham back in 2022. The pair were both sent off after the altercation.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Some non-Tuchel news. We can report that Lionel Messi is still doing Lionel Messi things, even at the age of 37.

The Inter Miami forward scored his 10th hat-trick for Argentina in their 6-0 thrashing of Bolivia in World Cup qualifying.

Messi said: "It's really nice to come here, to feel the affection of the people. It moves me how they shout my name.

"This drives me - enjoying being happy where I am. Despite my age, when I'm here, I feel like a kid because I'm comfortable with this team. As long as I feel good and can keep performing the way I want, I'll keep enjoying it."

Image source, Getty Images

BBC 5 Live Breakfast

Chelsea fan Tom Overend, speaking to BBC 5 Live Breakfast about the imminent appointment of former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel as England manager: "I’m absolutely delighted at this appointment.

"I just think he’s got the personality, he’s got the tactical knowledge and I think he’ll fit into the England camp really well. He knows lots of the players as well, he knows the English media. There’s so much to be positive about.

"He’s just the kind of coach that will instil a confidence that I hope, when it gets to those games against the real best, can carry us over the line and just finish the job in a way that under [Gareth] Southgate, we just weren’t quite able to. Just that final step, that last thing we need to finally get our name on a major trophy."

On whether it is a problem to have a non-English manager of England: “No issues for me. I doubt there’s a Lionesses fan that’s upset that we hired Sarina Wiegman, one of the best managers in the world.

"Most of us just want an England team that performs at the tournaments. does us all proud and we need the best coach for the job to do it and Thomas Tuchel, as far as I’m concerned, is the man for the job. If he wins anything, I don’t think there’s going to be moaning at the fact that we don’t have an English manager."

BBC 5 Live Breakfast

Football commentator and content creator Aaron Cikaya, speaking to BBC 5 Live Breakfast about the imminent appointment of Thomas Tuchel as England manager: "I think England have been crying out to be led by someone who has experience in winning stuff and to be more precise, and I think Thomas Tuchel is the right appointment at the right time.

“Everybody should know from the get go he’s not going to be everybody’s friend. He’s not going to try and befriend every single player.

"He’s going to be very fair and very harsh at the same time. I think there will be a few surprises in the way he makes selections.

"He’s going to be the complete opposite to Gareth Southgate. Not in a negative way but I think England fans should be ready to see some surprises in terms of his character.

"Tuchel for me is the perfect appointment when it comes to tournament football. When you look at the resume, when you look at the experience in cup competition, knockout football, you can’t go any better than Thomas Tuchel."

Stephen Warnock
Former England defender on BBC Radio 5 Live Football Daily

Thomas Tuchel has won trophies at the top level. If I’m a current England international and I hear Thomas Tuchel is getting the job, I’m excited by that because I’m thinking straight away, this is a guy who’s tactically very good and who also improves players, who doesn’t have any allegiance to players in any way.

Looking at it from a players’ point of view, what do you want? I remember going to the World Cup, getting on the plane and Jamie Carragher turning around saying “If we win this we come back as legends” and that’s what they’re trying to achieve, a legacy, to win something – they don’t care who’s at the helm.

As long as it’s someone who gets them over the line, who’s got that ability to tactically change a game, to see games out towards the end then the players will be happy.

You can listen to the Football Daily podcast special on Thomas Tuchel here

Archie Rhind-Tutt
German football expert on BBC Radio 5 live Football Daily

Thomas Tuchel has his ideas and an approach. At Chelsea it was successful, his team was accused of being boring in January at Bayern

When we think about the discourse around “taking the handbrake off” - you can expect a controlled but dominant football and the question for me is, with the squad, he will make tough decisions that maybe Gareth Southgate didn't in terms of making all the quality players happy.

He will have less qualms about upsetting people, which will be interesting how it plays out in terms of the media and the players.

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The decision of the FA to appoint a foreign manager to lead the England national team for only the third time ever will no doubt divide opinion.

Perhaps they were swayed by the success of the England women's team, who have been coached by Dutch manager Sarina Wiegman since 2021.

Wiegman has been a major success in charge of the Lionesses, notably leading them to victory at Euro 2022 - beating Germany in the final at Wembley - to become the first manager to win a senior trophy with an England national team since 1966.

She also took England to the final of the 2023 Women's World Cup. If Tuchel can achieve similar success with the men's squad, the FA's decision may well be validated.

Image source, Getty Images

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

England still don't know who they will play in Thomas Tuchel's first matches in charge next March.

Those dates have been reserved for Nations League play-offs, which as it stands, England will be in thanks to that defeat against Greece.

That would mean a two-legged match against a side from Group A, who finishes third in an effort to get promoted.

If England win in Greece next month, they will go straight into the higher ranked Nations League Group A.

It would also increase the chances of going into a five-team World Cup qualifying group, which might offer Tuchel a slightly easier start to his reign.

So Lee Carsley's final job as interim England boss will be to try to win the Nations League group next month.

German journalist Raphael Honigstein has said Thomas Tuchel has "a talent for getting a lot out of a squad" but has become "more conservative" in his style in recent years.

Have a watch of what he believes the pros and cons are that Tuchel could bring to England.

England

We have just been told that Thomas Tuchel is expected to be alongside FA CEO Mark Bullingham at the media conference at 13.30 BST today.

The 51-year-old will be officially unveiled there as the new England manager.

Since taking up his first role in first-team management with Mainz 05 in 2009, Tuchel has taken charge of 578 games in his career across three different countries.

He boasts 337 wins in those fixtures and has amassed over 2 points per game (PPG) at Borussia Dortmund, Paris St-Germain and Chelsea.

2009-14 Mainz: 183 matches W72 D45 L66

2015-17 Borussia Dortmund: 107 matches W69 D20 L18

2018-20 PSG: 127 matches W96 D11 L20

2021-22 Chelsea: 100 matches W63 D19 L18

2023-24 Bayern Munich: 61 matches W37 D8 L16

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The FA will appoint Thomas Tuchel with the brief of winning the 2026 World Cup. If he does so, he will make international football history.

No team has ever won the men's World Cup while coached by a manager not of that country's nationality.

Indeed, it is a rare event for a foreign manager to lead a country to a major trophy - the only case in the Euros was Greece in 2004, who were led by German coach Otto Rehhagel.

Clearly, England must hope Tuchel bucks the trend.

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