'Just nuances," Thomas Tuchel says. As an outsider turned insider, England's new permanent manager was mulling over the team's long history of falling short. Was it tactical? A lack of individual quality? Perhaps, but in Tuchel's eyes losing a major final on penalties or to a late goal was not necessarily evidence of a seismic failing. Sometimes, as the German says, success in international football really is just about mastering the little details in the biggest moments.
That said, the Football Association's hope is that replacing Gareth Southgate with one of the world's leading managers will ensure that England finally add a second star to the shirt.
Tuchel does not hang around. The German's aim is simple: win the 2026 World Cup. It is safe to assume that he will not view this job as a "process" or a "project".
For a character such as Tuchel, winning is everything. It took him four months to turn Chelsea from a mid-table team into the champions of Europe. For the FA, after Southgate lost two finals, a semi-final and a quarter-final by the finest of margins, the thinking has to be that a manager with Tuchel's knockout record at club level could be the missing ingredient for England.
Questions of nationality aside, it is hard to argue with the appointment. But an interesting pushback against the argument that the England manager should be English, because international football is supposed to be our best against yours, is that the FA's task had to be to hire a world-class manager.
The appeal is obvious. A view from close to the England camp is that a squad full of stars needs guidance from a big manager.
Where are the suitable English candidates with heaving trophy cabinets and a record of handling elite players? Graham Potter foundered at Chelsea. Eddie Howe has had one season in the Champions League at Newcastle.
Esta historia es de la edición October 18, 2024 de The Guardian.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición October 18, 2024 de The Guardian.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Everyone tunes in' How Macy's festive parade became a national symbol
It was a sight to behold: elephants marching through New York City streets, thousands of spectators crushed four and five deep on the pavements hoping to get a glimpse of the creatures.
Sweden seeks 'clarity' from China after cables severed in Baltic Sea
Sweden has announced that it has sent a formal request to China for cooperation over the suspected sabotage of two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea.
French PM Barnier abandons electricity price rise in attempt to calm the far right
The French government has promised to scrap proposed tax increases on electricity as it scrambles to calm its far-right rivals and prevent a political crisis that could mean the prime minister, Michel Barnier, toppled in a no-confidence vote as early as next week.
Main parties neck and neck as Ireland prepares to go to the polls
Ireland goes to the polls today with voters expected to choose either a second term for the incumbent centre-right coalition, or a left-leaning government led by a resurgent Sinn Fein, the IRA's former political wing.
'This is victory' After a year of fighting and thousands killed, militia claims win
The Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah chose an iconic spot for his victory speech: the sports stadium in Bint Jbeil, not far from the Israel-Lebanon border, where in 2000 crowds roared as the group's then leader Hassan Nasrallah declared that it had ended Israel's 18-year-long occupation of south Lebanon.
Gaza aid Officials recall gangs looting flour trucks
Aid officials and witnesses have described the chaotic and violent moments when a convoy carrying enough flour to bake bread for two-thirds of the population of Gaza for a week was looted earlier this month.
Hezbollah keeping its hands 'on the trigger' amid frail ceasefire with Israel
Hezbollah has vowed to continue resisting Israel and is monitoring the Israeli army's withdrawal from south Lebanon \"with [our] hands on the trigger\", the militia said in its first comments since a ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday.
Family and royals pay tribute after photographer dies aged 17
A teenager whose pursuit of photography while being treated for terminal cancer led her to meet the Princess of Wales and work with the photographer Rankin has died.
Labour plans to divert money from rich areas to most deprived towns
Ministers have pledged to redirect cash from wealthy areas to England's most deprived towns and cities, reversing a trend established during a decade of austerity in a major shake-up of local government funding.
End of line? How quotas after Brexit devastated Irish fishing
Gale force winds gusting across the North Atlantic Ocean kicked up thick spumes of spray from the heaving swell soon after the Ocean Crest and Carmona trawlers left the main Irish fishing port of Killybegs in County Donegal.
