Read every word from Thomas Tuchel's England unveiling as German manager put on the charm offensive at Wembley

After the news broke on Tuesday evening that Thomas Tuchel had agreed to become the next head coach of the England men's football team, there were unsurprisingly plenty of questions.

The 51-year-old has never ventured into the international management scene prior to taking up the role, which was confirmed on Wednesday morning .

Though he may not have an international job on his cv, Tuchel takes up the helm as one of the leading club managers in the game, winning trophies in three countries.

On Wednesday Tuchel had his first taste of the job, meeting the media for a press conference where he fielded questions on a variety of topics from whether he would sing the national anthem, to why he took the job in the first place.

Here, you can read every single word of the new England boss' first press conference after being confirmed as the Three Lions' next permanent head coach, alongside the words of FA CEO Mark Bullingham.

MARK BULLINGHAM

This is a really exciting day for the English game. We have appointed one of the very best coaches in the world and one of the very best English coaches in Anthony Barry as his No 2. Our aim is always to win a major tournament and we believe that Thomas gives us the best possible chance to do that at the next men's world cup.

We had a clear recruitment plan in place before the Euros and John McDermott and his team developed our ideal profile for an international coach and a shortlist if we needed it. After Gareth resigned we executed that plan, we met and evaluated potential candidates.

Thomas was absolutely outstanding, providing a really clear vision for the role and how he would work with our players and get the best out of them and to give us the best chance at the World Cup. We were delighted to sign contracts with Thomas last Tuesday but wanted to wait for the international window to be over before we announced. We are also delighted that Anthony is joining us as one of the most exciting young english coaches around,

I would like to thank Lee Carsley for stepping into the role for six matches he has handled himself really well and I am sure he will continue to do so, Lee will manage the team until the November window and then return to the U21s to defend their European Championship title. I would also like to thank Gareth and Steve. The fact that we had such a high level of interest in the role is testament to the foundations that they put in place over their eight years with us.

THOMAS TUCHEL

Of course, I am very excited and honoured to be here today as the new head coach of England. I just had the chance to read a quote from Pele in the building at Wembley who said that Wembley is the heart, the capital and the cathedral of football and I think he was absolutely right.

I want to take the opportunity to thank the FA, especially John and Mark, for their trust and I am very excited to start this journey in January with you, with the staff at SGP and at Wembley and with the very exciting and special players.

(Q: You've had huge jobs in the past - is this your biggest challenge?)

I understood very quickly that it is a big job, always the job you are in is the biggest job and it does not make a lot of sense to compare but it feels big and it feels like i said a privilege. It is very new because I come from club football so the rhythm and the responsibility, the role, it is a new role so that is very exciting, I was very open for that and liked the idea.

Once Mark and John made clear to me that this job is about football, we never lost momentum and once I made a timeframe up in my mind from January to the world cup i felt already excited. It suited my passion to push this group of players and to be part of this federation which has such a strong record in recent tournaments and push it over the line and to try and put a second star on the shirt.

(Q: Is it an uncomfortable truth that Thomas is not English?)

We were always very clear that we wanted the best person for the job and i feel like we owe it to the players and the country to give them that support and leadership in tournaments to get them over the line and give us the best chance of winning a trophy in the mens' world cup we feel we have done that and are delighted that Thomas has joined us.

(Q: Do you have a message to fans who wanted an English coach?)

I am sorry to have a German passport but I can just tell them and maybe the supporters can feel my passion for the English Premier League, my passion for the country, how I love to live and work here.

How my memories are of the highest level and they played a huge role and hopefully I can convince people and show them and prove to them that I am proud to be English manager.

I will do everything to show respect to this role and to this country. The target for the next 18 months is nothing else. This is the biggest one in world football and everybody can be assured... no matter of (their) nationality.

(Q: What can you tell us of the other candidates?)

The whole process was confidential. That may have been frustrating to people but we have to maintain that confidentiality. Not only for us but more importantly the candidates. I will say a few things and hold it at that. So we interviewed approximately ten people and we did interview some English candidates within that. As to anything further you wouldn't expect me to divulge any details really.

(Q: What sort of person are you?)

Maybe I try to describe my coaching personality and it's pretty obvious. I am very emotional. I love what I am doing, I am passionate about football. Like we said before, this path and this role has brought the young me alive.

It has brought back my teenage days, to get excited for such a big country, the Three Lions, playing matches at Wembley, leading this group of players.

So everyone can be assured that we will do it with passion and emotion and we will try to install values and principles and rules as quickly as possible to make the dream come through. First we have to go through the qualification process to the World Cup. It starts for us in January. We will dive in.

(Q: Will you build on the culture nurtured by Gareth Southgate or bring in your own?)

No we will build on it. I think Gareth Southgate and the FA did a fantastic job in terms of stability and consistency. Look at the results in the last tournaments. Quarter-final, semi-final and two finals in the last four tournaments. It's outstanding.

The U21s won titles, the young teams are in the competition to win titles, the women's team won titles so we are there and the federation is there. This was a big part of taking the job.

I am curious. I want to learn. I will have a completely different schedule than in club football. One of the big reasons was the knowledge and the quality of the federation – to have that at my side – and combine it with my ideas and build on everything GS and the FA built and hopefully we can add a little bit extra to get us over the line.

(Q: Do you relish the prospect of putting a second star on the shirt?)

Like I said, Mark and John made very clear that it's about football and this excited me very quickly because I was not sure before we had this first talk if this is a role for me – in international football, because the schedule is very different from club football but then we found so many similarities and so many things that suited my approach and my hunger to achieve special things.

I always wanted to come back here to England, that was my big goal. I have the best memories of the country, of the league, and of the players. The attitude towards the game, the attitude from the supporters, which shapes the players and the character of the players. It was one of a kind. And that's why the offer came at absolutely the right time.

We kept the momentum and within weeks we found a vision to share and a project and an adventure that I'm very happy to be a big part of it. Now I have to live up to it, of course, and I know that there are some trophies missing in the Federation! And of course I want to help to make it happen.

(Q: You just said on social media, "let's put another star on our shirt" - are you already pledging your allegiance. Will you sing the national anthem?)

I understood from Mark that it's a personal decision first of all if you sing it and there were managers who sang it and others who didn't. I have not made my decision yet. I want to be very honest with you.

Your anthem is very moving, the English anthem is very moving. I experienced it several times here at Wembley, even out with the players at the FA Cup final. It was very touching.

No matter what decision I will take... we have time until March... I will always show my respect to my new role, to the country and of course to a very moving anthem. But as this is a new subject I will take a bit of time for this decision.

(Q: Are you ready for the pressure, the spotlight on your private life?)

This is always the last thing I think about because I am up for the pressure on the sporting side. I am up for the big challenge. I am up for the task. I am up for these 18 months to work with this group and be part of this amazing federation. So these are all the reasons to jump in.

The pressure on the personal side, or the pressure that comes from media and could arise if things don't go so well... it's never part of the decision-making and I don't feel it so much. I feel it, of course, in the process but it's always a privilege and my love and my passion for the game is always much more than the downside.

(Q: How can you make the difference and turn this team into trophy winners?)

I think first of all, they are there. We are there. The group of players of proved that they are there. The consistency of quarter-final, semi-final, finals is impressive. And it shows that we have players who compete in the strongest league in the world, day in, day out. So we have the ingredients. And we fully trust that this is the moment to install maybe also from club football patterns, behaviours, principals that can maybe help to push the team over the line.

We will need luck, we will need the momentum, we will need to be lucky, not to have injuries and so on, little decisions within the games, that is a given. But we feel confident to add something from our experience in club football that can maybe help.

But most important is... even if we speak out now very openly about what the target is, about the second star... we have to prove ourselves all the time. We are a national player every single day, I will be a national coach every single day and not only when a camp is.

So we have to live up to these standards but I am very confident that everybody is used to that so this is what I demand from myself and then we need to show it in qualification and build an atmosphere with supporters and the country that extra special things can happen.

(Q: Should it be an English coach as England manager?)

I think everyone has their opinion and I can understand even the opinion I would fancy an English coach more for the English team. But I think we deserve a fair chance, we deserve the credit for having a good record in the country, for never being shy of how much we love to live in the country and how much we enjoy working with the players in the Premier League.

Maybe this counts a little bit for a British edge on my German passport. So we will try to convince them by results and the way we play.

(Q: Southgate was often described as 'human' - how would you describe yourself?)

I think we're all human. It's a big part of the job. I'm impressed of the record that Gareth provided with this team, I'm very well aware of what he built together with Mark and John in the federation as a foundation. And now it's on us to leave our own marks, to leave our own footprints, and we will try to take the next step.

(Q: Have you signed an 18-month contract and how do you feel about having only one shot at a tournament?)

Well let's see. It's 18 months and then we agreed to sit together and we see. I have good experience with 18 months personally. Unfortunately, also sometimes. I'm working on my long-term game. You never know.

The point was in this particular case it wasn't important for me to have a frame around it because it's a little bit of a step into the unknown for me. I'm used to working on a daily basis with the staff, on a daily basis on the team, to have an influence on 60, 80 people in a training camp every single day. To be three days away in hotel rooms and preparing matches. This will be very different.

The last piece of it for me to understand that this is something that really excites me to the fullest was the timeframe of 18 months. And to also demand from myself focus. It's a good timeframe because it will help us to focus, we'll focus on the qualification and the World Cup, it will help us in the nomination process, it will help us in the communication to the players and staff.

This is now very streamlined and easy to explain. We're here to work on the best possible outcome for the World Cup 2026 and then let's see, whatever comes, comes.

(Q: Is your experience at Chelsea, coming in and winning the Champions League in a matter of months, translatable to England in the timeframe?)

I think so, yes, but I'm not fully sure. The schedule will be different, the work load will be different, but I wanted this.

I wanted exactly this, so when Mark and John presented me the opportunity and made it very clear it's about me and that they trust me and the process and pushing this team, I was very happy now to have the chance also to learn on this process, to have a strong foundation and stability and quality of the federation to get better, to get smarter. To get better while I'm on this job, this was a big part of it.

(Q: Did you speak to Harry Kane and will he be captain?)

I didn't speak to anyone. We kept the process very confidential between Mark, John and me. I did not speak to Harry. I didn't speak to Gareth. Normally I never do this, I get my own feeling. I get my own point of view and let it sink in and reflect on it. I haven't done it yet. It's too early to answer these kind of questions.

You know how highly I think of Harry and how much I fought to bring him to Bayern Munich. He is already on his way to being a legend in English football. But now I think it is very important to give the respect to Lee and have the camp in November and take his decisions free of me interfering.

(Q: Why England and not Man United?)

Because the idea and the way John and Mark presented it was very fast, very exciting and it was very confidential. It was very trustful. It was very straightforward and that was basically a decision for this job.

It was not a decision against anything else. You will understand if I don't want to comment on individual players today. I will not comment like always on other clubs.

(Q: Did any managers reject you?)

We ran a really clear process. We spoke to approximately 10 throughout the process. Clearly some were more up for the role than others. We were absolutely delighted to end up with Thomas and we believe he gives us the best chance of winning the World Cup. We believe the best candidate got the job.

(Q:Why are you not starting in November and did the FA make it prerequisite you live in England and will you?)

I love to live in England and I am looking forward to living in England again. I want to be close to the Premier League and I want to be close to the majority of the players. But of course the schedule will obviously allow me to be close to my family, my children, in Germany.

We always said to Lee he would have three camps and we were very clear he'd run the Nations League campaign. When we first spoke to Thomas he wanted to have a singular focus on the World Cup so it made sense on both sides for him to start on 1 January.

(Q: What do you like about England, English football, the country etc?)

It is the country, the humour, the way of life, and it's the attitude supporters demand from the players and I have said it many times, I think it shapes the character of the players, how they live their profession, their approach towards training and the team, and I think it's one of a kind. For me, it was a one of a kind experience. To breathe that again is a big privilege and I am very proud, of course honoured and very happy to be back.

Of course, I was every three days in a stadium and mostly in the training ground, but I like the way of life. I like the humour, and I always felt very welcome here and that's why I am happy to be back."

(Q: Is it win or bust?)

I don't know, it depends. I know what you're saying, no, it's not a gamble, but we speak it out now very clearly why we are here and what we want to achieve. We are not shy of it. We are absolutely open about it.

It does not help the more often we speak about it, but it should be out there and then we can set the standards and set the values and principles because then we have to live up to them for 18 months. Let's judge it when we have done it. If we decide it was a failure, then we will not continue. If we decide it was not a failure, then we will continue. Let's see.

No one can predict the future. It feels absolutely right for me to do so, it feels clear and it feels easy for me to explain. When it's easy to explain, it's normally good.

(Q: What is the most important thing for you? Results or style of play?)

They have to be balanced and our style of play has to bring us results. We are playing with players from the best league and the biggest competition in the world. We have a group of young hungry players. We are desperate to win a title, so we have all the ingredients, so I think we should try to implement this into our style of play.

I think we should play an attacking style of football and we should try to emphasise a physical side of the game because this is what English football is all about and this is what excites our supporters, and this is what suits the players. I understand clearly that we don't have a lot of time on the training pitch.

Normally, I love the two or three days before a match to prepare and do training sessions, and then you go. We will heavily rely on that because we don't have much training time and that's why it is maybe important to have clear messages and to not overcomplicate and to find a clear structure where we can demand certain things from the players and where we can also show their full potential.

This is then my job to find this structure, these demands, and then demand it from the players. I think we cannot only focus on the results, we cannot hide behind the certain style of play which does not give us results. It has to go hand in hand.

(Q: What does this appointment say about English coaches and the pathways for them, and England's DNA etc?)

If you look at St George's Park overall, I think it has been a really good success. Our pathway is really strong, both from a coaches and players point of view. There are a lot of fantastic young coaches around and obviously Anthony )Barry) is one of those.

I think any federation in the world that is looking to hire a senior manager, clearly you would love to have five to 10 domestic candidates who are coaching clubs in your domestic league, challenging and winning honours in your domestic league and European football. We are not quite in that place at the moment.

As we set out our process, our priority was to find someone that can give our players the best possible chance to win. We have found that, and we have got Thomas — and we are delighted with that. In the background, we have got to keep helping our young coaches to get the best opportunities they can and to get them good opportunities at clubs. We would love to have more English coaches managing in the Premier League, for example. I think there is a balance there.

In the background obviously we've got to keep helping our young coaches get the best opportunities they can, get the best opportunities in clubs and obviously we'd love to have more English coaches coaching in the Premier League for example, so there's a balance there.

(Q: There appears to be zero sense in delaying Tuchel starting until January - Is there a reason you're not disclosing?)

It's a question of not allowing. When we first spoke to him, we had our timescale, Thomas had his timescale and it just fitted really well. What was so impressive was his singular focus on us and the World Cup and that project.

It made sense for it to start on the first of January and made sense for Lee to finish the campaign in the Nations League. So we're very comfortable where we are and that's what we'll be doing.

(Q: 'Too many competitions, too many matches, too many friendly matches'. Changed your mind?)

Good one! Now it's not enough, we need more matches! No, it correlates with the question before. That's why it was important for me to narrow it down into a project and not lose the focus, to start in another competition, the Nations League, then go into qualification and the tournament.

I wanted to have a clean start and a bit of time to recharge fully and start in January and start the first camp in March. We will have not a lot of time. If you look at the schedule, and we hear the voices of the players and I think they have a reason [to complain].

The schedule, to end the season with the Champions League final, then go to an international break, then have the Club World Cup is a very, very demanding schedule for the players. And now it's a new perspective for me. I'm glad to have it. It will help me to become a better coach. We will take this into account when we do our [call ups] to not overload the players but also respect our target to build the strongest group possible to go to America.

(Q: Is Anthony Barry the token Englishman?)

There will be a few more people in the backroom staff but we will keep the group very small because I always want to acknowledge the potential and the quality in the staff of the FA. So we want to work together and we want to be open but it is important to have a streamline process, people at your side who watch the game and the behavior, the patterns through your lens.

So Anthony is like the key figure in that as my assistant coach. We work now for the third time together and I'm very happy to have him at my side. He is on top of it English, full of energy, quality and a fantastic coach. He has a huge amount of experience in international football, being assistant coach for Portugal, Ireland and Belgium.

I think that's helped me already a lot to understand the schedule better, the nomination process better, to get a feeling for what we're talking about here when the talks started. That's why I'm happy to have people like Anthony at my side. I think this is necessary to influence then all aspects at St. George's Park in our way and get it streamlined.

(Q: Previously you were on the outside but now as an insider, why do you think England have failed to win for so long?)

I think it's just nuances, it's just details. If you lose on penalties in a final, who would I be to say I know what you did wrong when you were there. You were there.

We or they have been in two finals I think. Semi-finals and quarter-finals. Lost each of them very, very close, each of them could have gone either way. The genuine belief is that we are there, that we are ready.