I won my nine England caps under Sven-Goran Eriksson and became open-minded working with him — and Gerard Houllier at Liverpool — so understand the Thomas Tuchel appointment.
He has the right tools and a better CV than the English candidates.
Ideally, my national team would be led by an English manager, but we don’t have elite trophy-winning coaches and it wouldn’t be right to shoehorn in someone merely because they are homegrown.
Man-management is a big part of the international game, particularly communicating with stars you might have to leave out.
My relationship with Sven was fairly straight-forward. Because of the great midfield options we had — Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes — I knew my place.
I won my nine England caps under Sven-Goran Eriksson and became open-minded working with him
Tuchel has that same mix of ruthlessness and motivation as Sven, I’m sure, writes DANNY MURPHY
Even so, I saw enough to realise his personality was far more important than his origin. I remember once having a family issue and anxiously knocking on his door at our team hotel in Manchester.
He couldn’t have been a more attentive listener or more understanding. I was given permission to go home and return for breakfast the next morning.
That trait of leadership depends on the character of the man in charge, not because he’s Swedish, German or English.
When giving the squad time off, Sven allowed us the freedom to use it how we wanted, but to be responsible. We didn’t want to let him down and would all be back on time for dinner.
Sven had compassion for the group, but could also give a kick up the backside when required.
My first camp was the historic 5-1 win against Germany in Munich. I was disappointed not being on the bench and let it show, acting a bit mopey.
Sven pulled me aside and said: ‘You have to be better. Your training wasn’t good enough. You made it easy for me to leave you out.’
I realised I had to deal with it and improve next time. Tuchel has that mix of ruthlessness and motivation, I’m sure.
Singing the national anthem shouldn’t be an issue. I joined in God Save The Queen, Sven didn’t. It wasn’t anything that bothered the lads. We liked and respected our manager because of who he was, not his nationality. It will be the same with Tuchel.
Because of the great midfield options we had — including Frank Lampard — I knew my place
My first camp was the historic 5-1 win against Germany in Munich. I was disappointed not being on the bench
I think there has been more reaction to his appointment because he’s German rather than any other nationality. I bet if he chose to sing, some would say that’s wrong too!
The biggest disappointment of my England career was breaking my metatarsal shortly before the 2002 World Cup in the Far East. I was distraught and Sven came to see me an hour before my flight home. He told me to keep going and my time would come again.
There was a limit to how much better he could make me feel, but I appreciated his words and we shook hands. If Tuchel has that same kind of rapport with this generation of England players, it won’t matter that he’s German.
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