Jack Wilshere leapt to Thomas Tuchel’s defence amid the new England boss’ controversial work from home arrangement.
The Times reported Tuchel, who began his duties as England coach on January 1, struck an agreement with the FA that allowed him to make regular visits to see his two children back in Germany.
As a result, Tuchel was not in the stands for any of the Carabao Cup semi-final matches, the entire third round of the FA Cup as well as three Premier League weekends.
In total, Tuchel has attended 17 matches in England and abroad since January 1.
Speaking on talkSPORT Drive, co-host Andy Goldstein felt Tuchel should be attending more often, especially given the German’s salary which is estimated to be between £6million and £7m.
However, former England international Wilshere called up the show off his own back to tell Goldstein he was off the mark with his verdict.
“This is 2025,” Wilshere said.
“I know that you’re (Goldstein) a little bit older than me and Darren [Bent], and your reference of football is like teletext and all that.
“But Thomas Tuchel will have a big team around this. He’ll have scouts, he’ll have people that he trusts.
“And of course, I agree that he’ll go to a few games and you’ll learn a little bit more about players when you are there.
“But you can’t be there at every game. And actually, sometimes, you learn more after the game when you watch it back.”
Despite Wilshere’s stance, Goldstein doubled down and felt a ‘football manager shouldn’t be allowed to work from home’.
Goldstein then asked Wilshere what he would have done had the former Arsenal star been in charge at the FA.
Wilshere replied: “I’d say, ‘No problem, Thomas. Because you’re an experienced manager who’s won things, who’s worked with top, top players at the elite level of the game and you understand it a little bit better than I probably do.’”
The 33-year-old, who is Norwich City’s first team coach, also believed Tuchel will have clips of every single player in contention for a spot in the England squad and would ‘learn more that way.’
Tuchel’s arrangement with the FA has become the latest criticism of the German, who became the first foreign England manager since Fabio Capello in 2012.
It’s meant Tuchel has been up against it before he’s even named his first England squad, which is expected to happen in the coming weeks ahead of the Three Lions’ 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia on March 21 and 24 respectively.
But Wilshere insists the former Chelsea boss hasn’t done anything wrong at present and believes Tuchel deserves, at the very least, a chance to prove he is the man for the job.
GettyTuchel began his job on January 1 but his first game as England boss isn’t until March 21[/caption]
“Yeah, I think there was already that (criticism) just before he got appointed,” Wilshere said.
“When he got appointed, there were question marks. I don’t see an issue with anything he’s done at the moment.
“He hasn’t even played a game and we’re questioning him and trying to point out things he’s done wrong without actually doing anything.
“Give him a chance.”
