Thomas Tuchel’s five favourite Englishmen includes Man Utd ‘full package’
Thomas Tuchel’s most-used player in his managerial career is a North Macedonian, but here are his five most-used Englishmen. Any chance of an England recall for anybody on this list not called Harry Kane?
1) Mason Mount (87 appearances for Chelsea)
Thomas Tuchel was in charge of Chelsea for 100 matches and Mount featured in 87 of those, contributing a neat 19 goals and 19 assists. All this despite the weird English media fearing that little Mason would be abandoned by the evil German.
Mount has been understandably effusive about Tuchel – who earned him a Champions League medal – saying of the German’s methods: “From day one, as players we realised how he gives his game plan. It made it easy for us to go onto the pitch and do it.”
The feeling is very much mutual, with Tuchel saying of Mount: “He has the full package. Mentally, in terms of talent and physically and the most important part is his character, he has his feet on the ground and he’s a nice guy.”
Obviously this was all before the persistent injury problems that have seen him make just 25 largely short and largely forgettable appearances for Manchester United.
His last game for England? Eleven minutes in the World Cup quarter-final defeat to France. It feels like a long way back.
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2) Reece James (74 appearances for Chelsea)
Oh for the days of Reece James being available for 74% of any Chelsea manager’s games.
Another member of that 2021 Champions League-winning side, James was loved by Tuchel so much that he wanted to clone him. The German said: “I would love to have two of Reece James, that would solve the problem, it’s like 50% towards wing-back and 45% towards the back three.”
Maybe a cloned Reece James could mean that one would be in the treatment room and the other could be on the pitch for Chelsea and England. That would work. His last appearance for his country came in the last five minutes of a Euro 2024 qualifier in March 2023.
Nice timing if he can come back to fight Trent Alexander-Arnold for a right-back spot just as Kyle Walker is hanging up his boots.
3) Callum Hudson-Odoi (46 games for Chelsea)
He started Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge of Chelsea but then found himself on the fringes of the Chelsea first team, playing at wing-back on either side more often than in his favoured attacking positions. Tuchel was more than happy to let him leave on loan for Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2022.
“I would never bad mouth or say anything bad about him. He was always a good guy, a good man, on the pitch and off the pitch. It was just with so many great players in the team, you have to obviously fight for your position and work your hardest,” said the now-Nottingham Forest man.
“It was definitely difficult at times with him but you have to get on with it and do what you can.”
Remarkably, he is still only 23. Even more remarkably, it is almost five years since he last played for England.
4) Ruben Loftus-Cheek (46 games for England)
In the midst of a forgettable loan spell at Fulham when Tuchel was appointed by Chelsea, Loftus-Cheek returned to the European champions fearing that he would be a fringe player. While he started only 13 Premier League games that season, he was trusted at wing-back in a Champions League quarter-final win over Real Madrid and in midfield in an FA Cup semi-final.
Tuchel was never shy in his public criticism of Loftus-Cheek, saying: “He needs to discover this monster in him and unleash this on a regular basis because it is absolutely necessary. It is not enough to be just on the pitch.
“Maybe if you regard his last years, it may seem good because he is a regular but this is not enough. We cannot let him think it is enough, he needs to constantly push himself.”
As he has recently lost his place in the Milan midfield, odds are long on him discovering his monster and earning an England recall six years since his last appearance.
5) Harry Kane (45 games for Bayern Munich)
“Obviously, I know Thomas well from last year. [He is a] fantastic coach, fantastic person,” said Harry Kane, who must be very chuffed indeed that one of his biggest fans – who pushed Bayern to spend an awful lot of money on an ageing goal machine – is taking over England just as questions are being asked about just how long he can remain at the head of this side.
Kane scored a ludicrous 44 goals in 45 games under the management of Tuchel. England would certainly welcome that kind of ratio in the build-up to the 2026 World Cup.
We thought Kane would embrace the arrival of Pep Guardiola, but Tuchel might be an even better prospect.
