2025 in review for Thomas Tuchel and England

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Thomas Tuchel’s first full calendar year as England manager in 2025 has been a mix of strong results and careful management of high-profile players. Under his guidance, England completed a flawless World Cup qualifying campaign, winning all eight matches without conceding a goal — a rare and remarkable achievement.

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00:00Thomas Tuchel's first full calendar year in charge of England has been a mix of strong

00:06results and careful management of high-profile players. Under his guidance, England completed

00:11a flawless World Cup qualifying campaign, winning all eight matches without conceding

00:16a goal, a rare and remarkable achievement.

00:19I don't dare to think about starting 11 because there are so many months to play, but we learned

00:26so much today again because it was a tough match, it was an emotional stadium, it felt

00:30like a cup game as a favourite and the underdog has quality and is well drilled and waits for

00:38the chance. They have conceded five goals, we scored four and there is only one other goal

00:44they conceded, so we knew we had to be patient, we knew we had to stay positive, don't get

00:49frustrated, except if a bounce, a second ball goes back to them and they straight away put

00:55it into their strikers and they celebrate corners like it's already a goal and stay committed

01:02to the basic things in football and I think this is what we did. I liked our attitude, I

01:08liked the work rate again to overcome the difficult moments together, it's so, so important that

01:13not everything goes non-stop smoothly and in some moments you allow a chance and your goalkeeper

01:20has a good save and you have a good block and everyone back and defends the corner. It's good,

01:27I just told the guys I think we constantly progressed throughout the three camps, this is what we wanted.

01:33Congratulations to them, it was a pleasure to fight with them and push them from the sideline, it's hard to

01:41imagine now to not be on Wednesday, Saturday with them, very hard to imagine that I only see them back

01:48in March but they did ever so well. From his first match in charge, a 2-0 victory over

01:55Albania featuring goals from skipper Harry Kane and debutant Miles Lewis Skelly, Tuchel established a

02:01clear style, structured, disciplined and results focused. He's moved England away from experimentation,

02:08forging a side with stability and clear standards. For Declan it was the number six, so a very high

02:15position to play defensively. If it had been like a deeper position where we needed like we needed

02:20against Serbia where we defended in a 4-2-3-1, I would not have done it but today we saw that they

02:27don't change their shape and we felt we can play with two number 10s and a number nine, so slightly

02:35different profiles from 6-8-10 to two number 10s and Phil is just in shape at the moment, you can see

02:42it in the tight spaces, the first touches, the turns and just so so so safe on the ball and we provided

02:49straight away a threat. It was nice to see the impact again from the bench, it was brilliant to

02:54have another set-piece goal because you see what goals do in matches like this, it just costs the

03:01opponent a bit of belief, it just like gives you a bit more calmness, gives you a bit more rhythm to your

03:07own match and suddenly you're in full control. Yet the year was not without challenges due

03:12Bellingham has posed a particular test for Tuchel. The young midfielder's talent is undeniable but his

03:17emotional intensity and occasional positional lapses require careful management. Tuchel has been candid

03:25about these issues including substituting Bellingham in a qualifier against Latvia to avoid a red card

03:31and speaking firmly after an on-pitch reaction against Albania.

03:36I don't want to make it bigger at the moment than it is, I think to a certain degree if you have

03:41players like Jude who are so competitive they will never like it, but as you said my word stands,

03:51it is about standards and about level and there's a commitment to each other and respect to each

03:56other. So someone is waiting outside and we will not change our decision just because someone is

04:04waving with their arms. Tuchel has made it clear that behaviour and focus are non-negotiable while

04:12committing to helping Bellingham channel his energy more effectively. By the end of the year with

04:19England's international camps concluded, Tuchel has overseen a turnover of stability, strong performances,

04:26and identity building. His ability to combine tactical acumen with careful man management,

04:33particularly of standout talents like Bellingham, will be central as England aim to maintain momentum

04:39and cohesion into the next stage of international competition.

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