A talkSPORT caller had perhaps the best reaction yet to Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as England manager.
The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss has been officially announced as Gareth Southgate’s successor, signing an 18-month deal with a salary between £6million and £7million per year.
Tuchel is set for his first taste of international managementGetty
Tuchel follows Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello as the third foreign manager to take charge of the Three Lions at senior level, making him the first German to hold the position.
The decision to appoint a non-Englishman has sparked plenty of debate among talkSPORT listeners as to whether national teams should stick to homegrown coaches.
But few would have expected that the most explosive reaction to Tuchel’s arrival at the FA would come from a fellow German.
Marco, the ‘German England fan’, rang up Alan Brazil and Dean Saunders on the talkSPORT Breakfast Show to blast the appointment in hilarious fashion, leaving the two presenters in stitches.
The devoted Three Lions supporter, from Neumünster in northern Germany, revealed how he came to discover the news.
Donning an England bucket hat and speaking in a thick German accent, he recalled: “Yesterday evening one of my best mates, Alan from Luton, rang me up and said ‘Hey Marco did you hear about the story?
“‘Thomas Tuchel is the new [manager], from Germany’.”
He then shared his reaction, as Brazil and Saunders struggled to contain their laughter: “I said, ‘What? What the f*** is going on? It can’t be true!’
“My friend said, ‘Marco it’s all over the news!’
“And I said, ‘Wait, I have to take a look at the internet’. And then I saw it on the internet and I was shocked. “
Brazil and Saunders could not believe what they were hearing
The eccentric England fan continued his disappointed rant, as he went on: “I was completely down, because I can tell you one thing: England, the English national football team, has to have an English manager, an English coach and nothing else.
“And the question we all have to answer is what price will we pay for a possible title in 2026 [the World Cup]?
“My personal opinion, and a lot of my German neighbours and football friends say England has to have an English coach. That’s the history.”
Clearly unconvinced by his international allegiance, Saunders probed Marco: “So if Germany get to the World Cup final and they play England in the final how are you going to feel?”
The caller had a rousing response to this: “In my heart I’m English, I only support England, and I am for sure a supporter of England.”
Stressing his regret at his compatriot’s appointment, Marco continued in dramatic fashion, and argued that any potential success for England under Tuchel would mean much less to fans.
He said: “And now we have a German coach and I can’t imagine how to feel in this special moment, in this situation.
“Perhaps we win the World Cup but it isn’t the same like [if] we would have an English one, an English coach. It isn’t the same.
GettyTuchel has a proven track record in tournament football at club level[/caption]
“And you can say whatever you want. You can say he’s a good coach. He wins the title with Chelsea. He was a brilliant manager with Bayern Munich, also PSG in France.
“But it isn’t the same if England has an English coach.”
Clearly amused as Marco finished his rant, Saunders joined in by joking: “I think Thomas Tuchel could pick the wrong team on purpose so England lose every time he’s manager.”
Regardless of the hilarious caller’s thoughts on Tuchel, few can argue with his coaching pedigree.
The 51-year-old is a two-time Ligue 1 champion from his spell in charge of Paris Saint-Germain between 2018 and 2020, while he led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2021.
Following a disappointing year in charge of Bayern Munich, he will be looking to prove his credentials once again as England target a first major trophy since 1966.