‘It wouldn’t surprise me’ – Darren Bent backs FA to make shock Thomas Tuchel call
Darren Bent thinks that Thomas Tuchel’s reign as England manager could still end immediately after the World Cup next year even if he leads the country to long-awaited glory.
England have struggled to impress since Thomas Tuchel became their new head-coach at the start of 2025, with largely lacklustre performances and a tough 3-1 defeat to Senegal in June highlighting their issues ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Tuchel took over from Gareth Southgate, who led the Three Lions to final defeats at both Euro 2020 and 2024, with the sole objective to finally get the country over the line in the USA in 2026.
His ability to lead the side has already been called into question, despite the Three Lions sitting top of their qualifying group, and an uninspiring 2-0 win against Andorra on Saturday (6 September) did little to allay fans’ fears of more failure in the next tournament.
Tuchel only signed an 18-month contract as England boss, and he has been backed to finally bring football home in the USA, but then be left without a job despite such an achievement.
Darren Bent thinks the FA will not extend Thomas Tuchel’s contract even if he leads England to a World Cup win
Tuchel has previously been backed to leave England before the World Cup to take the Man United job if Ruben Amorim is sacked, but he remains in his post ahead of England’s game against Serbia on Tuesday.
While speaking live on talkSPORT on Monday (8 September, 5:14), former England striker Darren Bent predicted Tuchel to lead his side to World Cup glory in 2026, despite their attritional style of play, but also backed the FA to cut ties with the German boss after the tournament even if the Three Lions came home with the trophy.
Show host Andy Goldstein argued that style of play is important, and England need to be putting lesser teams to the sword, but Bent argued back saying: “Well we saw that with Gareth [Southgate], and what have we got to show for it? Two finals and that’s it, and when he was in charge that was nowhere near good enough, people were calling for his head!
“If Thomas Tuchel plays this clunky style, and they somehow get over the line and win it, you would go ‘pfft’ and hold your hands up. It wouldn’t surprise me if we played this awful football and England somehow found a way to win it, but then the FA still went, ‘thank you for what you’ve done for us Thomas, away you go, we’ll get someone else in.'”
Quite a surprising prediction from Bent, who clearly feels Tuchel doesn’t have a long-term future as England’s Head Coach, irrespective of his possible future success.
England need a great performance against Serbia
England’s results, on the whole, have not been a massive issue under Tuchel so far, but it is rather the way they have played in each game that has called him into question in his first role in international management.
When he was unveiled last October, the ex-Chelsea boss admitted that he would “sit together and then see,” with the FA when his 18-month deal is up, while he also joked that he had been “working on [his] long-term game,” but he clearly will have to work a little harder to convince people that he is the right man for the job.
| Games managed | Wins | Draws | Losses | GF | GA |
| 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
The Three Lions can prove a lot with a convincing win and performance against Serbia on Tuesday, as it is a game that has been picked out by many as their toughest test in qualifying.
If Tuchel’s side do play well but fail to get a result with a draw, then that will arguably do more for his reputation in charge than if they just about edge over the line with a scrappy win.