Thomas Tuchel has put his name behind the FA's growing challenge to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and the timing says everything about the relationship he's building with the people above him at Wembley.
FA chair Debbie Hewitt wrote to Infantino this week demanding answers on the World Cup sell-off plan and the inexplicable suspension of Folarin Balogun's one-game ban. Tuchel's endorsement of that stance wasn't performative — it was personal. He explained it through the lens of a moment before England's World Cup game against Mexico, when his bosses told him they'd back him regardless of the result.
"This was a beautiful moment for me as a coach," Tuchel said. "So they have my full support on that and I back their opinion."
That kind of institutional loyalty isn't nothing. With UEFA's broader protest against Infantino gathering momentum, Tuchel's voice adds weight from the coaching side of the argument — not just the boardroom.
Mainoo is getting his minutes, and Tuchel knows he owes him
The more pressing matter for England's upcoming UEFA Nations League games is what happens with Kobbie Mainoo. The Manchester United midfielder didn't get a single minute at the World Cup despite making the squad, and Tuchel isn't trying to spin that.
"That was totally on me. He did not put a foot wrong at the World Cup. He was class in behavior and on the training pitch."
The England boss pointed to Reece James being used in midfield, Elliot Anderson's form, and Declan Rice's role as reasons why Mainoo got squeezed out. Then, just before the third-place play-off against France, Mainoo picked up an injury — the last door closing on any chance of him getting on the pitch. Tuchel admitted that hurt.
Now he's called Mainoo up again for the Nations League window and is being unusually direct about what comes next: "I expect him to be on the pitch and it's my duty to put him on the pitch."
That's not typical manager hedging. Mainoo, who was one of United's standout performers last season before things fell apart around him at club level, is the kind of deep-lying creator who changes England's tempo in possession. If Tuchel actually follows through, it's worth watching how England's midfield shape evolves — and whether that affects their Nations League betting line as they look to push through the group.
"It was difficult for him, difficult for me," Tuchel said. At least he's not pretending otherwise.
