By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) – Thomas Tuchel was a surprise choice as England coach and will have to win next year’s World Cup to justify the FA’s decision to appoint him, according to Harry Redknapp.
German Tuchel became England’s third overseas head coach when he was named as Gareth Southgate’s successor last year and makes his debut against Albania at Wembley on Friday.
Former West Ham United, Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur manager Redknapp said Tuchel, who has an 18-month contract, was not his obvious choice, but that he has inherited a squad which is the envy of the world.
“It’s all a strange situation really. I heard (former Arsenal goalkeeper) Jens Lehmann this morning saying could you imagine Germany having an English manager? It’s impossible,” Redknapp, who will return to the dugout for a South of England v North of England fixture in June, told reporters.
“It wasn’t a manager that jumped out at me when I heard it. I thought, oh my God. When we got (Italian Fabio) Capello, you’ve got Capello, he’s a serial winner, the Champions League, Milan, wherever he managed. He was iconic.
“Tuchel’s been here, done okay.”
The 51-year-old Tuchel won two league titles with Paris St Germain, the Champions League with Chelsea and the Bundesliga at Bayern Munich but this is his first international role.
England’s World Cup qualifying campaign begins against Albania before they host Latvia on Monday and Redknapp says the German will learn little from those fixtures.
“Listen, it’s hard to judge at the moment. He’s picked a squad to play two useless teams. I’ll be watching Coronation Street (TV soap opera) when that’s on. I just can’t be bothered to watch that,” the 78-year-old Redknapp added.
“What do we gain from seeing us beat Latvia 5-0 or 6-0? What do we learn about any of the players? It’s difficult, until we get into a competition.”
England also face Andorra and Serbia in Group K.
GREAT SQUAD
“He’s got to win something, basically, to be a success. (Tuchel’s predecessor) Gareth (Southgate) took us so far. He’s got an opportunity, he’s got a great squad, great group of players,” said Redknapp.
“You probably wouldn’t swap them for anybody. So, it’s all there for him to go and win a trophy.”
Southgate steered England to two Euro finals and the World Cup semi-finals but failed to deliver any silverware.
Redknapp, who was always overlooked for the England job, said he would prefer an English coach for the post, but added only Newcastle United’s Eddie Howe stood out as a candidate.
“I’m all for an English manager, me. I would like to see that. If you can’t find an English manager, there’s something gone wrong somewhere.
“It’s not the coaching system, because they can do their coaching badges. The FA can’t do anything about choosing who manages what clubs. That’s down to the owners.
“They’re all foreign owners. And they come in, and they seem to want to have foreign managers.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
