Thomas Tuchel is trying to get sacked as England manager, according to former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Scholes. The German boss has faced heavy criticism after England's World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina, with his second-half tactics widely blamed for the loss.
Tuchel's post-match comments also drew attention. He claimed he did not instruct his players to sit back, as many believed, and took a swipe at the DNA of English football. Despite achieving England's best World Cup result since 1966, Scholes questioned whether Tuchel is the right person to lead the nation at Euro 2028.
Scholes questions Tuchel's commitment
Tuchel is contracted until after the Euros in two years' time and has said he intends to see out the deal. However, Scholes remains unconvinced that the 52-year-old genuinely wants to stay. "I think his comments since the game have actually made it worse than the performances. Saying it's not in the English DNA. You're part of that DNA now, Thomas," Scholes said on The Good, The Bad and The Football.
Scholes pointed out what he called a golden rule broken by Tuchel. "He's gone on the offensive and blamed players a lot," Scholes explained. "That is something our manager would never do. He'd blame us behind closed doors on the training ground and meetings but in public never. I think Thomas Tuchel has a bit of a history with this at football clubs; he blames players and falls out with sporting directors. You just wonder with the way he's been speaking, 'do I want to get sacked'."
Tuchel's history of fallouts
Scholes suggested Tuchel may be engineering his way out of the job. "It seems to indicate that [Tuchel] does want to leave [the England role] from the stuff he was saying because it was quite hard to come back from that. And I didn't realise until yesterday, when I heard someone talking about it, how much he fell out with people at football clubs he's been at. You think about it, he's not been at clubs for very long, has he? PSG, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich. He falls out with people and maybe just engineering his way out."
Co-host Nicky Butt also raised concerns about Tuchel's handling of the situation. "He's obviously an honest coach, and he says what he thinks, but do you think the PR who works with him, obviously they have a big PR at the FA, do you not think they should be coaching him on what to say? If you're going to stay on in this job, Thomas, you need to say this." Scholes responded: "I don't think he cares. He's had big jobs, he's not bothered." Butt countered: "I get that but they should lead him in the right direction. If he wants to stay on he needs to play the game."
Squad selection questioned
Butt also expressed disappointment with Tuchel's matchday squad choices. "You look at the squad, he brings defenders on, he's not really got that many attacking options to go on anyway," he added. "Rashford and for me Watkins should have been brought on. Even that 10 role with Palmer and Foden at home, they must be sat at home thinking 'what am I doing here on holiday with my feet up, I should be trying to win us the World Cup'."
