Skip to main content
Advertise with the Morning Star
Thomas Tuchel and the English Game
Newly appointed England head coach Thomas Tuchel during a press conference at Wembley Stadium, London, October 16, 2024

THE appointment of Thomas Tuchel as manager of the England men’s team has caused a stir.

It has been criticised as an abandonment of English football identity. A betrayal of St George and the English DNA forged at his football Park in Staffordshire.

Such criticism forgets how football developed as a global game in the first place, and national team football has always been open to positive international influences and the sharing of ideas beyond borders.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, left, celebrates with his teammate Gerard Martin after scoring a goal during a friendly soccer match between FC Barcelona and Daegu FC at the Daegu Stadium in Daegu, South Korea, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025
Men’s Football / 15 August 2025
15 August 2025

As the concept of league games being played overseas has come about once again, JAMES NALTON writes how a club is not a club without its links to location, community and fans

US Senator Bernie Sanders speaking during a rally to Save London's Public Transport, at TUC Congress House, London, August 31, 2022
Men’s football / 8 August 2025
8 August 2025

Vermont Green FC’s viral Bernie Sanders tifo was more than a joke. It was a sharp critique of US soccer’s top-heavy capitalism and a celebration of grassroots power, writes JAMES NALTON

Celtic fans in the stands wave flags of Palestine during the UEFA Champions League Group E match at Celtic Park, Glasgow, October 25, 2023
Men’s football / 1 August 2025
1 August 2025

Palestinian football has been decimated, its players killed, its stadiums reduced to rubble. Yet the global game has looked away silent in the face of genocide, and will remain a stain on the sport, writes JAMES NALTON

Similar stories
Then newly appointed England head coach Thomas Tuchel with F
Men’s Football / 3 January 2025
3 January 2025
England head coach Thomas Tuchel talks to the media after th
World Cup 2026 / 13 December 2024
13 December 2024
England learn their opponents in preliminary draw for campaign’s kick off in March
Newly appointed England head coach Thomas Tuchel with FA CEO
Men's Football / 16 October 2024
16 October 2024
Thomas Tuchel, April 16, 2024
Men's Football / 15 October 2024
15 October 2024