Thomas Tuchel explains delayed start as England manager with German coach not taking on role until 2025

Tuchel was officially presented at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday, after signing an 18-month contract to lead England until after the World Cup in 2026. Nonetheless, interim manager Lee Carsley will continue to lead England in their next two Nations League matches against Greece and Ireland in November, with Tuchel set to take over from the start of 2025.

The Football Association (FA) has come under fire for its proposal to begin Tuchel's tenure in 2025, since the 51-year-old has been free agent for months following his departure from Bayern Munich. However, the FA took a considerable amount of time before finally landing upon the German as the head coach. Tuchel has now explained why he will begin his tenure with England from 2025 and not take charge of the side earlier.

Speaking to the media, Tuchel said: "It was important for me to narrow it down into a project and not lose the focus, to start in another competition, the Nations League, then go into [World Cup] qualification and the tournament. I wanted to have a clean start and a bit of time to recharge fully, start in January, and start the first camp in March. We will have not a lot of time."

Speaking to the media, FA CEO Mark Bullingham talked about Tuchel's delayed start. He said: “We always said to Lee he would have three camps and we were very clear he’d run the Nations League campaign. When we first spoke to Thomas he wanted to have a singular focus on the World Cup. So it made sense on both sides for him to start on January 1.

"When we first spoke to him, we had our timescale, Thomas had his timescale and it just fitted really well. What was so impressive was his singular focus on us and the World Cup and that project. It made sense for it to start on the first of January and made sense for Lee to finish the campaign in the Nations League. So we’re very comfortable where we are and that’s what we’ll be doing."

Carsley will continue on as the interim coach of the Three Lions for their Nations League group stage clashes in November, and Tuchel will take over on January 1.