Photograph: Michael Regan/The FA/Getty Images
Mark Bullingham has insisted that appointing Thomas Tuchel as England’s head coach should not raise alarm bells about the Football Association’s development of homegrown managers.
Bullingham, the FA’s chief executive, and John McDermott, the technical director, have faced criticism after ending their hunt for Gareth Southgate’s successor by putting a foreigner in charge of the men’s senior team for the third time. Those opposed to hiring Tuchel have raised concerns over what it says about the production line at St George’s Park.
The FA has emphasised that Anthony Barry – an “internationally renowned” English coach – has been appointed as the German’s assistant. Even so, the lack of English managers deemed capable of replacing Southgate was glaring. That left Bullingham making no apologies for picking Tuchel at the 51-year-old’s unveiling, although he also said English football remained on the right track.
“If you look at St George’s Park overall, I think it has been a really good success,” Bullingham said. “Our pathway is really strong, both from a coach’s and player’s point of view. There are a lot of fantastic young coaches around and obviously Anthony is one of those.
“I think any federation in the world that is looking to hire a senior manager, clearly you would love to have five to 10 domestic candidates who are coaching clubs in your domestic league, challenging and winning honours in your domestic league and European football.
“We are not quite in that place at the moment. Our priority was to find someone that can give our players the best possible chance to win. We have found that and we have got Thomas – and we are delighted with that.
“In the background, we have got to keep helping our young coaches to get the best opportunities they can and to get them good opportunities at clubs. We would love to have more English coaches managing in the Premier League, for example. I think there is a balance there.”
Bullingham made clear nationality was not as important as giving England’s men the best chance of claiming silverware for the first time since 1966. “We were always very clear that we wanted the best person for the job and I feel we owe it to the players and the country to give them that support and leadership in tournaments to get them over the line,” he said.
The FA spoke to “approximately 10 people” during the hiring process and Bullingham said there were talks with some English candidates. He was tight-lipped on whether anyone turned the job down. The FA had targeted Pep Guardiola, whose deal with Manchester City expires at the end of the season.
“We ran a really clear process,” Bullingham said. “Clearly some were more up for the role than others. We were absolutely delighted to end up with Thomas and we believe he gives us the best chance of winning the World Cup. We believe the best candidate got the job.”
Tuchel defended his nationality and said he had not decided whether to sing the English national anthem before games. Lee Carsley, the interim head coach, was subjected to fierce criticism for staying silent during it.
“I understood from Mark that it’s a personal decision first of all if you sing it and there were managers who sang it and others who didn’t,” Tuchel said. “I have not made my decision yet. I want to be very honest with you. Your anthem is very moving, the English anthem is very moving. I experienced it several times here at Wembley, even out with the players at the FA Cup final.
“It was very touching. No matter what decision I will take, we have time until March. I will always show my respect to my new role, to the country and of course to a very moving anthem. But as this is a new subject I will take a bit of time for this decision.”
