International Management in Football

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In this week’s edition of Learning the Venture, we are going to be discussing the world of international football management, and the pros and cons for hiring locals vs foreigners to manage a national team.

This comes on the heels of the recent appointment of esteemed German manager Thomas Tuchel, by the English FA to manage the England Men’s National Team.

We’re going to take a look at the intricacies this has within football fandom, and how it is viewed amongst the “top” countries in the sport vs the “lower” ranked teams.

I think this is one of the more interesting topics in football right now, and I’m excited to tackle it head-on with all of you!

So, without further ado, let’s get stuck in!

In my opinion, international football is one of the purer competitions within the sport. Even though there are multiple international breaks throughout the year, there isn’t a major tournament, so there remains an element of exclusivity amongst competing nations.

What adds to this atmosphere, is the “you against us” mentality that international sport offers. The best of one country competing against the best of another. That is pinnacle of sporting competition that all athletes aspire towards, regardless of sport.

Football is no exception.

Because of this, it makes sense that you would want your head coach to be from the country of the national team they are managing. You want to have that comradery that sport offers fans, and in this case, entire nations.

In the case of Thomas Tuchel taking over the England Men’s Team job, I think the disdain is misplaced. Thomas Tuchel is a fantastic manager, often regarded as top 5 currently amongst fans and pundits, and recently tipped to be in consideration for the Manchester United job.

He’s a Champions League winning manager, his performance is cup-based competition is thought to be his best trait as a manager, and his drawbacks - control over transfer business, and discourse with a board - are essentially eliminated when managing a national team.

Surely, this is the perfect man to take over what is an immensely talented England team and get them over the hump.

So why are fans and pundits upset?