Thomas Tuchel’s first three months as England manager: FaceTime, texts and a visit to the prince

Thomas Tuchel has not taken charge of a competitive football match since he watched his Bayern Munich team lose 4-2 to Hoffenheim on the final day of the Bundesliga season in May.

But the wait for his return to action in the dugout is almost over.

Tuchel has spent the past three months preparing for the beginning of England’s 2026 World Cup-qualifying campaign. First up is Albania on Friday, followed by Latvia on Monday, with both games taking place at Wembley Stadium.

Appointed by the Football Association (FA) as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October, but not starting until January 1, Tuchel has had plenty of time to bed himself in at England’s base, St George’s Park, getting a feeling for how international management works.

Tuchel has been very visible at Premier League fixtures, attended games in Europe to watch his players, and managed to squeeze in a visit to meet Prince William, the future King of the United Kingdom, at Windsor Castle in February.

There was time to catch up with several of his former Chelsea players, including Mason Mount, Reece James and Ben Chilwell, at the 50th birthday party of Marina Granovskaia, a former Chelsea director, in London.

There was a meeting with Southgate, although Tuchel didn’t want to pick his brains on the role too much.

He met with Lee Carsley, England Under-21s manager and interim head coach of the senior team between Southgate’s departure and Tuchel’s arrival.

Such is their confidence that they will qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which is being held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Tuchel has spent time assessing the unique challenges of a tournament taking place in a variety of conditions.

“He’s made a really strong impact,” Mark Bullingham, the FA’s chief executive, told a group of reporters, including The Athletic, this month when asked to assess Tuchel’s first three months.

“He’s really hit the ground running, you’ve seen him at games. He’s also integrated a small number of his sports team he brought with him into SGP (St George’s Park, England’s HQ) and he’s been up there a lot and spent a lot of time with people.”

Bullingham described Tuchel as an “incredibly charismatic and energetic individual” and you would expect English players who have been in touch with the 51-year-old will feel the same way.

Before naming his squad, Tuchel made a longlist of 55 players and, since January, he has spent endless hours on the phone, talking or texting, trying to build relationships and let them know he is on hand to provide support and encouragement.

“We’ve all spoken to him on FaceTime,” the Everton and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford told TNT Sports on March 8. “I spoke to him and the ’keeper coach Hilario. We’re all excited. It’s exciting to take on the challenge.”

One of the key reasons Southgate succeeded as England’s manager was the culture he created. It went from a generation of players who perhaps saw international duty as a bit of a chore to a group that wanted to be there — and that is down to Southgate.

Tuchel is looking to build on that culture, which became evident to the FA when their decision-makers were going through the recruitment process.

“He’s really culturally aware,” said Bullingham, “and he was really aware of the good job Gareth had done, but he’s that kind of person anyway where he would always want to build those cultural connections with the players and he’s put a lot of time and effort into that.

“He’s contacted an awful lot of players, it’s really impressive.”

A source close to one England international, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, said his player has spoken to Tuchel “quite a few times” since he got the job, initially on FaceTime to introduce himself. “They have kept texting ever since,” the source added.

Those texts range from discussing the player’s most recent games and performances to Tuchel offering support during a difficult run of form.

“It gave some reassurance that he was not just going through the motions with him,” the source said. “He is already showing he cares.”

After Crystal Palace’s victory against Ipswich Town on March 8, Dean Henderson revealed in the mixed zone that Tuchel had messaged several players before the game.

“Just that he’d be at the game and he’d be in the stand watching,” Henderson said when asked about the contents of the text. “He just wished me all the best and he did the same for Adam (Wharton) and Marc (Guehi) and Ebs (Eberechi Eze) as well. It’s nice to know he’s watching.”

One player who didn’t have regular dialogue with Tuchel was Myles Lewis-Skelly, the 18-year-old who was one of the surprise call-ups to Tuchel’s first England squad.

A lot of consideration went into selecting Lewis-Skelly — there was a school of thought that it would be better to let him develop with the under-21s, yet injuries led to Tuchel naming him in the senior squad.

Tuchel has faced criticism from some members of the media that he has not been a visible enough presence at Premier League games, but on Friday at his press conference at Wembley, he defended his work ethic and highlighted that he had been to 25 games in nine weeks.

“On the Premier League weekends when I don’t go, I watch a minimum of five matches live on a wide-angle screen,” Tuchel said. “I watch more if you don’t see me than if you see me in the stadium because if I go to the stadium on a Saturday, I don’t see the match before and I don’t see the match after.

“Everyone tells me it’s easier to watch it not live in a stadium. It gives you the chance to watch it wide-angle, it gives you the chance to watch it tactically, it gives you the chance to watch up to three matches easily in a day, which you don’t have if you travel through London and travel back to Brighton.

“I need a little bit of trust from you that you trust me to do the job on a high intensity and in the best way possible.”

Tuchel with Rafa Benitez at the Etihad last month (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Bullingham explained how Tuchel is living in London and based himself at St George’s Park, although it is no secret that he returns to his home in Munich, Germany, to see his family.

“If I do this, my girls are used to watching the Premier League on TV, so if they are with me on these weekends, they are with their father or they are in the next room and they know that I’m watching (games),” he added. “There’s no more to it.”

The discussion around Tuchel’s first three months of his 18-month deal focused on who he will name in his first squad. There were surprise selections, most notably Jordan Henderson’s return to the England scene, but now the focus will shift to how they perform.

He has made no secret that anything other than Harry Kane hoisting the World Cup above his head in New York in July next year will be deemed a failure. That is the target Tuchel has set himself and England.

The two games against Latvia and Albania present a good opportunity to get Tuchel’s stint in charge of England off to a winning start. Results and performances on the pitch will matter more than the number of players he has been calling or messaging and Tuchel knows that.

If the first three months were about bedding himself in, the next 13 will focus on turning a squad of talented players into a well-oiled machine that can win the biggest prize in football next year.

(Top photo: Thomas Tuchel at Molineux in January; by Alex Livesey/Danehouse via Getty Images)