Tuchel to watch Spurs face Newcastle as England reign begins

LONDON: Thomas Tuchel will mark the official start of his England reign by watching Tottenham play Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday.

Tuchel was appointed as the permanent replacement for Gareth Southgate in October, but the German only began his spell in charge on New Year’s Day.

The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss will attend the match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to check on the form of Tottenham stars James Maddison and Newcastle trio Dominic Solanke, Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall.

Tuchel will then appear at further games across the Premier League weekend alongside his assistant Anthony Barry as he starts to prepare for England’s World Cup qualifying campaign.

The 51-year-old and his coaching team will visit England’s training base at St George’s Park for the first time next week to hold a series of introductory meetings with members of staff.

Tuchel plans to meet with England Under-21 coach Lee Carsley, who led the senior team on an interim basis through the Nations League campaign earlier this season.

The Football Association confirmed on Thursday that Tuchel’s goalkeeping coach will be Henrique Hilario, who had occupied the same position with Chelsea since 2016.

Nicolas Mayer, who worked with Tuchel at Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, will be his performance coach, while analyst James Melbourne is also part of the German’s backroom group.

Tuchel’s first matches in charge will be the World Cup qualifiers at Wembley against Albania on March 21 and Latvia on March 24.

England’s Group K opponents also include Serbia and Andorra.

Tuchel will be bidding to lead England to their first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup after Southgate twice took them to a runners-up finish at the European Championship, beaten in the final by Spain in July.