Observer drops Thomas Tuchel to Man Utd bombshell amid ‘unhappy’ England reveal

Thomas Tuchel ‘is not really enjoying’ the England job and is eyeing a move to Manchester United to replace Ruben Amorim, a pundit has sensationally claimed.

Tuchel was a free agent for six months following his exit from Bayern Munich in June 2024, going on to become England boss in January. So far, he has steered the Three Lions to six wins from seven matches, with the only blot on their record being a surprise 3-1 friendly defeat to Senegal in June.

Tuchel has a great tournament record, having guided Chelsea to the Champions League in 2021, and the FA appointed him to finally end England’s wait for World Cup glory.

Tuchel penned an 18-month contract when joining England, which expires at the end of the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The German has been tasked with going one better than Gareth Southgate, whose England side was beaten in consecutive European Championship finals.

England beat neighbours Wales 3-0 on Thursday, with Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Bukayo Saka all getting on the scoresheet. You can read our quickfire reaction to the game – and more specifically Marc Guehi – here.

Despite the win, Tuchel complained about Wembley being ‘silent’, saying his team deserved more ‘energy’ from the home supporters.

Scott Minto, who played as a defender for Chelsea, West Ham United and England U21s, thinks the 52-year-old will only be England boss for a short period as he hopes to join Man Utd next.

“I personally think Amorim will last until the end of the season, and I personally think Thomas Tuchel will take over – we’ll see what happens and whether that’s the case or not,” Minto said on talkSPORT.

“From what I’m hearing, Tuchel is not really particularly enjoying the England job. We’ll have to wait and see how the World Cup goes… If he wins it.

“Of course he sounds excited about it in interviews, he knows how to play the game.

“I’m a fan of Tuchel, I thought what he did at Chelsea was brilliant and I wasn’t unhappy about him being the England manager. I would have preferred Eddie Howe, but I was fine about it.

“Although, I do think Eddie Howe wouldn’t have come out and criticised the England fans last night. I don’t think that’s a play [from Tuchel to angle for an exit] I think it’s just him being him. He is who he is.

“He’s a very forthright person, he believes in himself, and rightly so because he is one of the top managers in the world.

“I’ve got no beef to grind at all with Thomas Tuchel, I just don’t think he particularly enjoys the whole getting together for a few weeks and then not not having any games or camp for a few months.

“I think he’s probably been a little bit surprised by what it’s like to be England manager. He’s used to testing himself against the best teams in the Champions League.

“If there’s a way to find more quality opposition for England, whether it’s friendlies against top teams, then that would be better. But he knows it’s all about major tournaments and that’s how he will be judged.

“But even the group stage of the World Cup, England could cruise through that, so really he’s only going to be judged on one or two knockout games, depending on how far we get. That’s how long it will take for him to get into a really competitive game.

“Bringing it back to Man United and what Sir Jim (Ratcliffe) said, I think it was one of those where he didn’t back the manager 100 per cent initially, which told me a lot, and then he said about the three years.

“But if Manchester United carry on like this, he can’t get three years.”

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Ruben Amorim still under pressure despite Ratcliffe backing

Amorim has been under severe scrutiny in recent weeks after a poor start to the season where United have lost three out of seven league games and also been dumped out of the League Cup by Grimsby Town.

Amorim insisted that not having any European football would benefit his players, giving them extra time to work on tactics, but so far there have not been any major signs of improvement.

While the Portuguese is safe for now, TEAMtalk understands Ratcliffe will closely monitor performances and results in the coming weeks to see if a change needs to be made.

Ratcliffe would ideally like to give Amorim three years to build a fantastic legacy at Old Trafford, following the blueprint laid out by Sir Alex Ferguson, but he acknowledges privately that United cannot continue to underperform so badly.

Sources have revealed to TEAMtalk that Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Oliver Glasner of Crystal Palace are two prime contenders for the job, should Amorim be sacked.

United are prioritising a manager with Premier League experience, and that means Tuchel cannot be ruled out either.

Tuchel has been linked with the United job before, and the two parties held discussions in the summer of 2024 when Erik ten Hag’s job was under threat.

Tuchel did not end up moving to Old Trafford at that stage, but he remains of interest. The former Bayern and Borussia Dortmund boss would love the opportunity to manage arguably the biggest club in England.

Man Utd news: Keane advice; £100m target

Meanwhile, United icon Roy Keane wants his former club to consider a controversial option to replace Amorim.

United would love to make Carlos Baleba their next midfield addition, but the Brighton star will cost at least £100m.

There has been a major update on Baleba in the run up to the January window.