‘He’s got a really tough job to keep everything Southgate built up, add his own style of play and push this side over the last hurdle and win a trophy, in less than two years’ Teddy Sheringham on Thomas Tuchel’s England challenge

With the 2026 World Cup final less than 11 months away, the starting pistol really has been sounded on Thomas Tuchel’s England tenure.

The FA turned to the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss last October, with the German signing an 18-month contract that ran from the start of 2025 to next summer’s World Cup in North America.

In terms of expectations, Tuchel’s assignment couldn’t be more simple – go and win the thing. But former Three Lions striker Teddy Sheringham fears that time is not on the 51-year-old’s side.

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Sheringham on the size of the task facing Tuchel

Teddy Sheringham netted 11 times for England(Image credit: Alamy)

“He’s still learning about the players, the English mentality, the press and their mentality towards the team,” ex-England forward Teddy Sheringham tells FourFourTwo. “It’s a very different position, compared with Gareth Southgate, who took over at a very low point.

“Now we’ve got high expectation levels because Gareth built them back up into a couple of finals and semi-finals.

Tuchel won the Champions League with Chelsea(Image credit: Getty Images)

“The expectations for Tuchel are: ‘What are you going to do to make us even better and finish the job?’ The pressure’s been on from minute one.

“Because of that, any half-hearted performances like the ones in the last two or three games bring a very negative vibe from everyone around the country. Not just reporters, but the supporters as well.

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“People expected Tuchel to come in and make us this fairytale, free-flowing football side for 90 minutes constant, every game.

“He’s got a really tough job to keep everything Southgate built up, add his own style of play and push this side over the last hurdle and win a trophy, in less than two years.

Tuchel at his England unveiling on March(Image credit: Alamy)

“It won’t be easy to keep the morale, keep the consistency, then add that sugar on top for 2026 to turn us from contenders to winners.”

Next up for Tuchel and the Three Lions is a September World Cup qualifying double-header against Andorra and Serbia.