Gary Lineker made a light-hearted joke about Thomas Tuchel’s plans for England after the Three Lions were eliminated in the World Cup semi-finals.
Thomas Tuchel is responsible for England’s World Cup exit (Image: Getty Images)
Manager Gary Lineker has joked that Thomas Tuchel is a “German spy” whose job is to torment England as Germany struggle badly in major competitions.
He became the first German to lead the Three Lions, who achieved a perfect qualification and achieved some impressive victories at the World Cup. His tactics and managerial IQ were seen as making a difference, but England lost to Argentina in the semi-finals.
Coach Tuchel has covered the blame for the defeat with the defensive tactics that worked against Mexico and Norway, proving to be the team’s undoing. They caused a lot of pressure and Argentina finally made it known late in the game.
Lineker jokingly suggested Germany had sent in Tuchel to dash England’s hopes of winning, but questioned whether the former Chelsea manager should remain in his post.
The former England striker said on the Netflix show: “I think Thomas Tuchel is like a spy for Germany. We are being infiltrated. Germany are not very good at the moment and can’t get past the group stage, so I think they sent someone in.”
“I’m joking, obviously I’m joking, but after the Croatia game he said, ‘If we lose, we’ll play aggressive, attacking football and we’ll lose our way.’ He was totally against that, right? I think it was this team that I was most disappointed about. We had a chance if they were going for it and we just grabbed it. I think I was very wrong.”
“And is he the right person to take us forward? Well, I mean, I’m never calling for anyone to be fired. I don’t think that’s the thing to do, but it’s up to him and how he feels and how free agency feels.”
Germany has been dominated in major competitions over the past decade (Image: Getty Images)
Germany has been underperforming in major competitions and has endured a steep decline since winning the World Cup in 2014. They reached the final four at the Euros in 2016, but have since been eliminated in the group stage of the two World Cups in 2018 and 2022, suffering a shock loss to Paraguay in the Round of 32.
This cost Julian Nagelsmann his job and the Germans now turn to Jurgen Klopp, who is tasked with returning the country to the top of international football.
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