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Thomas Tuchel says he will consider singing the English national anthem at next summer’s World Cup.
The German revealed during his unveiling last year that he would not sing God Save the King during his early matches because he had to ‘earn the right’.
Since then, Tuchel has taken England to the finals as qualifying-group winners, recording seven straight victories with an aggregate score of 20-0.
The 52-year-old was asked if the time was now to join in the pre-match tradition, and said: ‘You think it is already there? I will think about it. Yeah, maybe (at the World Cup). Let’s see.’
Tuchel has won increasing praise in the role and his handling of Jude Bellingham has been particularly smart. The Real Madrid star returned to the squad this week but was left on the bench until the second half of Thursday’s 2-0 win over Serbia at Wembley.
‘It was no problem at all,’ said Tuchel, of the decision to start with Morgan Rogers ahead of Bellingham at No.10. I explained it to him before the (pre-match) meeting. We had three fantastic performances with Morgan, so one of the reasons was to keep him in this position.
Thomas Tuchel admitted he may sing the English national anthem at next summer’s World Cup
England have won seven straight games with an aggregate of 20-0 under the German
The pressing structure between Declan (Rice), Morgan and Harry (Kane) in the middle of the pitch was excellent in the last matches. It would be a bit unfair to just put Jude there and say, “It is like this”. It is a new press for him because we changed our way of pressing in the last two camps.’
Tuchel is big on team spirit and togetherness and he has made a fresh plea to those not in the starting XI to buy into his ethos, even if he accepts those not in the XI have a right to be angry.
“We need a good bench,” he said. We will play in 40 degrees after a long season. We are maybe the nation that suffers the most from international football, long seasons, two cups, cup finals, semi-finals.
‘Players on the bench will never be happy, they don’t have to be happy. No one is used to sitting on the bench, this is the nature of a strong national team.
‘They come because they are regularly picked. They come because they are captains and key players in their team and then I tell 10 of them they have to sit on the bench.
‘They will never like it but I strongly believe they will accept it. Once we go to a tournament, I think clarity in the role is very important.
“The better player can also think about it and be honest, “Can I accept this? Is it good for me? Can I make the most of this for the team?
Tuchel opted to start Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers in the No. 10 position on Thursday ahead of Jude Bellingham
It was however ‘no problem at all’ for Bellingham, who was making his return to the squad
“You can be angry at the coach, but if you see the nations that win, see the clubs that win the Champions League, then the bench is on their feet. For the last eight, 10 minutes, there is no one sitting there thinking, “I should be on the field, why am I not there?”.
I experienced this once in the amazing run with Chelsea (Champions League winners in 2021) and it was non-stop – everyone was pushing and fighting from the bench. Even if they were not picked, they were ready. This makes the difference and I strongly believe we should arrive with a team like that..’
