Thomas Tuchel is on an 18-month, one-tournament England mission, so January start makes no sense | OneFootball

Tuchel should be starting before next month’s Nations League matches, so why is the FA waiting?

At Thomas Tuchel's unveiling as England's new head coach on Wednesday, the message from the German and the Football Association's chief executive, Mark Bullingham, could not have been clearer. Tuchel, they both emphasised, had been appointed with a mandate to win the 2026 World Cup.

Bullingham, who joined Tuchel in facing a packed auditorium at Wembley, acknowledged that the controversial decision to appoint a third foreign coach in the national team's history effectively boiled down to the FA's desperation to finally win a first men's trophy since 1966.

"I feel like we owe it to the players and the country to give them that support and leadership in tournaments to get them over the line and give us the best chance of winning a trophy in the men’s World Cup," Bullingham said.

Tuchel has signed an 18-month contract from January 1, which will run until after the World Cup, and he admitted that he will not remain in the job if the finals are deemed "a failure", which, given the lofty objective, effectively makes it a second consecutive 'win or bust' tournament for the England head coach.

In a 35-minute press conference, there was not a single mention from Tuchel or Bullingham of the home European Championship in 2028.

Tuchel even justified the strange decision for him to start work in January, with interim head coach Lee Carsley to remain in charge for next month's conclusion of the Nations League, by saying he wanted a singular focus on the World Cup campaign from the start of qualifying.

"It was important for me to narrow it down into a project and not lose the focus, to start in another competition, the Nations League, then go into [World Cup] qualification and the tournament. I wanted to have a clean start," he said.

This argument is undermined by the fact that Tuchel may have to take charge of the Nations League play-offs in March if Carsley's England slip-up against Greece in Athens or at home to Ireland, and finish second in their four-team group.

Tuchel is under no illusions that he will “have not a lot of time” to work with the players but he would have had more by beginning the job immediately, suggesting there could be an ulterior motive for his late start, perhaps financial or contractual.

Bullingham insisted part of the thinking was about honouring the FA's commitment to Carsley but, based on his comments during this month's camp, the interim boss would be more than happy to return to the Under-21s, which he will do when Tuchel takes charge.

Tuchel added that he also wanted time to recharge, which would be understandable, but it is hard to imagine that he will not immediately start working behind the scenes, assessing and speaking to players and thinking through solutions to England's lack of left-backs and surplus of No10s, among other issues.

It makes it all the more frustrating that he will not be able to manage the team next month, which will feel like a wasted camp.

Tuchel's appointment for one tournament cycle is a shift in strategy from the FA after the careful building and planning of the Gareth Southgate era.

Tuchel's pedigree as a trophy-winner and, crucially, a knockout-specialist is beyond question. He has won titles in France and Germany, and most notably led Chelsea to the 2021 Champions League just months into his tenure - an experience he said he hopes can be translated into the England job.

Target: Tuchel has been appointed with a mandate to win the 2026 World Cup

The FA via Getty Images

And England are obviously a team with the potential to win a major tournament after narrow defeats in consecutive European Championship finals under Southgate, as well as runs to the semi-final and then quarter-final of the last two World Cups.

"I think it's just nuances, it's just details," said Tuchel, when asked why England have not won a men's trophy for so long. "The genuine belief is that we are there, that we are ready."

In theory, the 51-year-old has the tactical nous and mentality to make these minor tweaks in England's favour, transforming the team into winners, but question for the FA and Tuchel is whether parachuting a trophy-specialist into a nearly-team actually works in practice.

Moving for Tuchel after the holistic, culture-driven but cautious approach of the Southgate era feels comparable to Tottenham abandoning the club's philosophy and the steady building under Mauricio Pochettino to appoint 'win now' managers in Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.

There is even the common thread of wanting to get the best from talismanic striker and leader Harry Kane while he is still at the peak of his powers.

There are major differences between international and club football but the FA's thinking is comparable to club which is too impatient to start another project and just wants to win a trophy to appease supporters and relieve pressure.

In Bullingham's words, Tuchel's job is effectively to drag a nearly-team "over the line" in North America.

Elite football, though, is not usually so simple and history suggests it often takes time to grow towards tournament success at international level, even when a manager inherits solid foundations, as Tuchel has from Southgate.

It would have felt more logical for Tuchel to sign a contract until after the next Euros, with a remit to win that tournament on home soil and a more relaxed view of the World Cup as a free hit, which would have relieved the pressure on coach and players going into the finals.

Tuchel, though, suggested he is unsure how he will take to international football, and wryly acknowledged that "I have good experience with 18 months," having not remained in a job for more than two years since he left Mainz a decade ago.

While there are cases of managers winning major tournaments quickly - Luiz Felipe Scolari, a former FA target, led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup after just over a year in charge - it is more common for teams to peak in major tournaments during a cycle of growth, as England came close to doing under Southgate.

Tuchel is smart enough to be an outlier and he was characteristically charming and charismatic at his unveiling, effortlessly disarming difficult questions.

At one point he insisted his appointment is "not a gamble" and, for him, that is likely true. If he wins the World Cup, Tuchel will be immortalised as an English legend but if his mission is unsuccessful, he will likely still be able to return to one of the top jobs in club football in the 2026-27 campaign.

For the FA, though, a shift away from 'England DNA' and the pursuit of a project and towards a win-now strategy, feels like a roll of dice. If Tuchel is a success, they will be lauded but there is a danger that Bullingham and Co. could be back to square one in two years and searching for another new coach.