Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad felt underwhelming – until he spoke ...Middle East

WEMBLEY — Suffice to say you don’t normally get that many attendees at an England squad announcement ahead of games against Albania and Latvia.

In the vast auditorium where England hold press conferences at Wembley, seats were full, the camera plinth so crammed some had to set up to one side, journalists from all over attending.

In strolled Thomas Tuchel stage right: tall, wiry, a dark long-sleeve shirt buttoned up to the top, a broad smile on his face that barely dipped for the entire show as he discussed his first England squad as the country’s first foreign manager.

A squad that had received mixed reviews in the two hours since it had been announced in an FA YouTube video.

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Jordan Henderson back – what is that all about? The same category could also be applied to Dan Burn, the 32-year-old Newcastle centre-back who has never played for England before – why now?

Marcus Rashford’s return – okay, intriguing. A first call-up for 18-year-old Arsenal left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly – a glimmer of that excitement we had hoped for in his new era under the guidance of the ruthless, big-name manager.

But, overall, as the squad list dropped online it all felt a little… underwhelming. If fans had expected a revolution under England’s shiny new serial trophy-winning head coach, this felt more of a continuation.

Had Harry Maguire and John Stones been fit, Tuchel may as well have called up Kieran Trippier and got the old band Gareth Southgate had routinely turned to during his eight years back together.

That was until Tuchel spoke. And if England can play only half as good as Tuchel talks, then they will have one hell of a shot at lifting the World Cup in the USA in 18 months’ time.

The 51-year-old sat at the front, holding court, fiddling with a pair of thick-rimmed glasses he never actually put on, sipping water from a heavy whisky tumbler, for some reason that was never explained, although there was plenty to get through.

Henderson was the major talking point. “This is an easy one,” he said. “He is a serial winner. What he brings to every team is leadership, character, personality. He embodies everything what we want this team to be.”

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Some eyebrows may well be raised by those who booed the midfielder every time he came on in the final Southgate games, having anointed himself as the defender of LGBT issues only to join a team in Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is illegal and can be punished with death by stoning.

Tuchel spoke passionately, confidently, vibrantly, enthusiastically. Football is about building a team that loves to play with each other, he said. About “building a brotherhood”.

Hence the Henderson decision.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the age and experience spectrum was Lewis-Skelly. Tuchel described the “parental vibes” he’d felt in discussions with his backroom staff regarding the teenager.

He had weighed up the impact of speeding up a career already on fast-forward, of the responsibility of protecting him, of perhaps shielding him from the spotlight and letting him grow in the Under 21s. Probably before realising he had hardly any left-footers to choose from.

Woven through it all was a slightly conflicted football coach – sounding like a man exhausted by the brutal intensity of sharp-end club football, who was intrigued by a different pace, a new challenge, but at the same time still getting used to the adjustment. “I miss the pitch,” he said, “the smell of the grass”.

It drew a laugh from the crowd when he explained that he was surprised Burn, the 6ft 5ins defender, had been overlooked before. “He’s such a tall guy but obviously it’s easy to overlook him.”

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In fact, his command of English, his second language, is better than most people born in England – cracking jokes, speaking in careful metaphors, explaining with eloquence and precision his philosophies and ideas; how he does not want England to copy other nations, but to play a direct, attacking style that reflects the Premier League.

“Can we cross that bridge when we are at the river?” he replied when asked about dealing with the climate in the USA, a tournament England only start the campaign to qualify for next Friday.

German journalists around the England camp will be a sight we’ll get used to and when he was requested by one German broadcaster to give a reply in German he politely declined. “I would like to do it all in English,” he said, “just to respect where we are.”

Tuchel revealed how “surreal” it was to be sat there as the first German manager of the England team, of the “honour”.

Another journalist from his homeland pointed out that while the pressure was intense in England, back home they were equally as interested and opinionated about his decisions. How will he deal with that?

“I try to be offline when it comes to opinions and judgements about myself and the squad,” he explained. “I try to not read and not get involved.”

It is right out of the Southgate playbook: a manager who used to disconnect and stay sane cushioned from the harsh criticism outside by the bubble around England camps at major tournaments.

There were other similarities, too, between predecessor and successor, even if they represent entirely different approaches from the Football Association: the inexperienced but die-hard patriot replaced by the cold, hard, foreign mercenary who has won trophies everywhere.

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Asked for an idea of his playing style, based on his clubs, Tuchel said, “I don’t want to say if we’re playing a back four or five and give this advantage away.”

Southgate, equally, was often infuriated by his team selection and formations being leaked in the days before matches, complaining of the advantage it ceded.

The Tuchel smile turned cheeky when he was asked about news stories questioning his work ethic for missing Premier League weekends to fly back to Germany to see his children. “The majority of the time I was in London,” he said, “I don’t really get the point of the story.”

It was the only moment he looked even gently ruffled.

And then, after 45 minutes, the final question was asked and answered, and the FA’s senior communications manager, sat alongside Tuchel, called a halt to proceedings.

“Done?” Tuchel asked, sounding almost surprised, as though he would happily carry on answer questioning about football forever.

Finished, for now. But also only just getting started.

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