England legend 'bewildered' by Thomas Tuchel holiday decision

The former Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain coach was named as Gareth Southgate's replacement on October 16, but he won't officially take the job until January 1.

That left interim Lee Carsley to finish off the 2023/24 Nations League campaign, something he did in style by securing promotion to League A with a 5-0 victory over Ireland at Wembley.

Some reports have claimed that Tuchel wasn't present for the final two games as he had contractual ties to wrap up with Bayern, but talkSPORT host Jeff Stelling wasn't having any of it.

"It is bewildering, I found it absolutely bewildering," he said. "There was some stuff coming out about tying up loose ends at Bayern Munich but I can't believe that's the real reason behind it.

"I was shocked by it, my theory - and I don't know if I'm alone in this - Greece away was looking like a tricky game and the last thing England or the FA would want is a new manager starting with a defeat and that was a possibility."

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It was then put to Three Lions legend Stuart Pearce if he would cancel his holidays to be present for the matches and he gave his thoughts.

"Yes I probably would have to because of the magnitude of the job," Pearce said.

"The thing with international football as well is you can take your holiday now, between now and January, that is the holiday period for an international manager."

With Tuchel back out of the picture, interim Carsley was able to recover from a damaging home defeat to Greece by beating them away in Athens and then downing Ireland to secure Nations League promotion.

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That made it five wins from six for Carsely, who will now return to his U21 role with the pressure off his back.

It was also put to Pearce if Tuchel being named as full-time manager helped alleviate some of the job stress too.

"I think it's a very good point, it relaxed Lee a little bit," he said. "I saw in his demeanour from a distance that he looked a bit more relaxed with it, but then the result in Greece helped that as well."

Despite Carsley saying that he will return to the U21s, there have been reports that he has also applied for the Coventry vacancy.

However, Pearce doesn't see him going into club management any time soon.

"I don't see it," he said. "I think with the period he's had with England his esteem and experience would have grown. He's ticked a box in his CV which is really good.

"If I was Lee, I'd say give me a contract for two tournaments - four years - as the alternative in club football is you can be in and out in less than a year, then where do you go from there?

"Job security is a big thing and I think the nature of Lee and the person he is I think he'll be more suited to sitting tight at the moment."