England: Shearer reveals Tuchel theory with Man Utd claim; Lineker questions ‘odd timing’
Alan Shearer has revealed his theory on the FA’s decision to make former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel the next permanent England manager.
The Three Lions have been without a permanent manager since Gareth Southgate quit following his side’s loss against Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Lee Carsley subsequently stepped up from the U21s to become England’s interim manager and has been in charge for the last two international breaks.
The 50-year-old remained coy when asked whether he wanted the job permanently and several alternative candidates have been mentioned.
Pep Guardiola’s long-term future at Man City is in doubt as he has entered the final year of his contract. He has been referred to as the FA’s ‘dream’ target, but instead, they have moved to appoint Tuchel.
READ: England for the GERMAN; we’re now Thomas Tuchel evangelists
The respected German head coach has been out of work since leaving Bayern Munich at the end of last season.
He previously did a great job at Chelsea and helped the Premier League giants win the Champions League at the end of the 2020/21 campaign.
The FA reached an ‘agreement’ with Tuchel on Tuesday evening and his contract will run from the start of 2025. He is expected to be unveiled on Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking on this appointment, Shearer claimed the FA “acted quickly” as there was a “real live chance” of Tuchel “getting the Man Utd job pretty soon”.
“They [the FA] have looked at whoever and come up with Thomas Tuchel and thought there is a real live chance he could get the Man United job pretty soon,” Shearer said on The Rest is Football podcast.
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“There, opportunity lies now. If they didn’t act quick, now, they weren’t going to get one of the outstanding candidates for the England job.
“There is every chance that vacancy could become available soon.”
Gary Lineker meanwhile has explained why he thinks the “timing” of this appointment is “odd”.
“We know they [Man United] went for Tuchel in the summer and it didn’t happen so maybe they were thinking again and the FA were thinking ‘crikey, we don’t want to miss out to Man United’ and maybe it pushed them,” Lineker said.
“It does seem slightly odd the timing, because reports are he is not going to do the job until the start of the year. Lee Carsley is going to get three camps, I suspect he knew because his quotes were slightly informative in a way.
“Particularly after the second game they won, he stipulated that England need a manager who has won trophies.”
Shearer added: “I think the FA thought we have to act here or there is a chance we lose one of our outstanding candidates to a club job and that could have happened really soon.
“I think that fits with everything, why he would start in January and not maybe immediately. They thought let’s get this deal done now.”
