Tuchel set to rope in former boss Southgate’s advice in future ahead of his side’s World Cup qualifying campaign.
Tuchel set to sound out “gentleman” Gareth Southgate ahead of his side’s qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup.
Tuchel is well aware that his goal is to add another World Cup star to the England jersey. The next England head coach has agreed to an 18-month deal with the Football Association, which begins on January 1.
His team faced Serbia, Albania, Latvia, and Andorra in Friday’s qualifying draw; the winners of the group earned a spot in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico finals. Although he is fresh to the international scene, Tuchel is a highly regarded club coach. He stated that he will make time to talk to Southgate, who resigned in the summer after leading England to their second consecutive Euro final.
“He’s a gentleman,” Tuchel told Sky Sports News. “We met before when I was at Chelsea and it was a pleasure to talk to him, and why shouldn’t I [meet him again]?”
He will also hold talks at St George’s Park next month with Carsley, who took interim charge for England’s Nations League campaign in the autumn. “We will work from January at St George’s and I hope it will become very regular that we will meet and very normal that we meet,” he added.
“Of course we will exchange [ideas] because I’m interested in his point of view about the [squad selection for] the games, about the potential in the group and how he felt about the group and the experiences. He is the under-21 coach, so he will be very, very close to me and we have enough time from January.”
England has won all of their games against their Group K opponents and will begin their qualifying campaign in March. Tuchel set to, however, stated on BBC Radio 5 Live that his team will need to be “serious” and “determined” in order to win the group.
Jude Bellingham’s strike proved to be the game-winning goal in a group stage match at this year’s Euros, the only time England and Serbia have faced each other as a single team. They last faced each other when they qualified for the finals in Qatar, and they have won all six of their prior encounters with Albania, all of which were World Cup qualifiers. In November 2021, Southgate’s team defeated Albania 5-0 at Wembley.
Asked about facing Serbia and Albania, Tuchel told BBC Radio 5 Live: “They are always very talented individual players, a very emotional group, a very emotional crowd. So they can always surprise. We have to take this very seriously. It’s a first fixture with Latvia, so a new challenge for all of us.
“And then we are clear favourites, of course, against Andorra, but qualification is key now. Qualification is top priority. We have to be serious. We have to be determined, and we have to show what we’re up for in this group of five.”
Tuchel was asked if he was confident of finishing top of the group, and added: “I don’t see it as a given. The gap closes more and more between the big nations and the small nations. You see it in the Euros lately. There are no such thing as results that are already done before the match is played. The smaller nations have become stronger and stronger. So we have to earn our place. We have to earn our top spot.”