Thomas Tuchel has declared that he will not be getting involved in UK politics, despite being manager of the England national team. Instead, the German is keen to focus on on-field matters rather than being a spokesperson on other matters. Tuchel’s approach will be a stark contrast to his predecessor Gareth Southgate, who was never shy about addressing wider issues in the world and often acted as the face of the FA when questions were raised on matters.
Asked about whether Tuchel would follow suit, the former Chelsea manager replied: “I think we have the best chance when you allow the head coach to focus on football.
“I understand from your perspective maybe the importance of the role. But maybe I can hide a little bit behind being not English and not talk to everything that happens in your country out of respect and focus a little bit more on football.”
One of the big issues that Southgate had to navigate his way through was whether his captain should wear a OneLove rainbow armband whilst competing at the World Cup in Qatar – where it is illegal to be in a same-sex relationship.
Quizzed on how he would have dealt with the situation, Tuchel said: “I think at some point it must be allowed for a football team that is sent to a World Cup to be a football team and not be a political statement and be a political role model for whatever it goes on, then it becomes sports-political.
“And people in the federation have to speak up, give their opinion, give a clear position, that is a clarity that helps them in the end. Because once these decisions are made you can endlessly debate about it because what can the players do? What can the coach do?
“They cannot be the scapegoat at the end of it and be punished for every little sentence that they say. So at some point, in this case, I would have taken my right to say ‘we can speak about football now because now we are here, if we like it or not, the tournament is here, it’s already decided, we qualified, for some of us it’s maybe the one chance in a lifetime and we want to make the best of it’.”
Tuchel will be hoping that he can let his management do the talking when he takes charge of England for the first time on Friday night for the Three Lions’ clash with Albania.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk