Intense schadenfreude in Germany over Tuchel and England

From revelling in the FA’s supposed desperation to poking fun at angry fans, the German media is having a field day.

Newly appointed England head coach Thomas Tuchel with FA CEO Mark Bullingham ahead of a press conference. Pic: John Walton/PA Wire.

Germans don’t really do irony, it is often said. But reactions to the news that Thomas Tuchel has been appointed England manager have been so steeped in caustic ribaldry to suggest they understand it very well.

“No other football nation has caused England more pain in recent decades than Germany,” Sven Haist, the London-based sports correspondent for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, pointed out. Now the nation’s longing for the ultimate crown of the sport “is supposed to be fulfilled by – of all people – a German coach”.