Boris Becker has backed up Rio Ferdinand after the Manchester United hero spoke out in favour of Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as England manager. The Football Association named the German as Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor after the Englishman quit his role in the aftermath of Euro 2024.
Lee Carsley has taken charge of the Three Lions’ last four matches after being handed the role of interim boss.
But Tuchel will take over in the hot seat in January after signing an 18-month deal.
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After Tuchel’s appointment was announced, Ferdinand posted a video to X (formerly Twitter) and explained: “They want to be led to the promised land. I know for a fact these players will be sitting there ringing each other saying, ‘What’s he like?’
“‘Mason, Mason Mount, what’s he like?’ [Bukayo] Saka at his club [Arsenal] with Kai Havertz, 100 per cent, they’re calling these guys. Declan Rice will be doing the same.
“They’ll be calling all of their mates who have played under him and going, ‘Listen man what was he like? Am I the type of player that he wants?’ That’s what the conversations will be.
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“All the players are questioning themselves. Am I going to be the type that he likes? I might have been in the doldrums, or in the shadows, but I think he’ll like me now.
“It will invigorate some, galvanise some players. There'll be a little bit of apprehension, a bit of anxiety creeping in. But, I'm sure he'll go in there, settle in on day one and talk them through how he's going to get them to be winning a trophy.”
Despite never working with Tuchel as a player, Ferdinand oddly promoted his video by writing: “My guy Tommyyy Tuchel the new @England manager… love it!”
And he was supported by former German tennis star Becker, who replied to the post by commenting: “Well said Rio”.
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However, plenty of former footballers disagreed with the 45-year-old’s sentiments, with ex-England right-back Gary Neville explaining on Sky Sports: “I think there are some serious questions for the FA to answer in respect of English coaching.
“I do think we are damaging ourselves accepting Thomas Tuchel is better, he is better than any of the other English coaches.”
And former England boss Sam Allardyce told talkSPORT: “The problem with the FA is they've gone against everything that they were doing in terms of building and developing their own from within. For me, that could have been Lee Carsley. If not, they could have gone all out for Eddie Howe or even Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard in the end because you've got a quality squad.”
