# Thomas Tuchel says he will not sing national anthem until he’s earned it

Thomas Tuchel will not sing the national anthem before his opening matches in charge of England and will do so only when he senses he has earned the privilege.

The manager, who named his  for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley, is aware of the controversy that , who held the role on an interim basis for the autumn internationals. Carsley, born in England and of Irish heritage, chose not to sing the anthem.

Tuchel, the first German to manage , gave a characteristically considered response to the question of the anthem, which he hoped was heavy on respect.

“First of all, you have a very powerful, emotional and meaningful national anthem and I could not be more proud to be on the sideline and be in charge of the English national team,” Tuchel said. “It means everything. But I can feel because it is that meaningful and it is that emotional and it is so powerful that I have to earn my right to sing it. I feel that it is not just a given. You cannot just sing it. That’s why I decided that I will not sing it in my first matches.

“I will earn the right with results, with building a group, with doing my job properly and by creating a feeling where maybe even you guys \ say at some point: ‘Now it’s time that you sing it. It feels like you properly earn it and you’re a proper English guy now!’

“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like: ‘He should sing it now, he’s one of our own; he’s the English manager, he should sing it.’”

Tuchel was asked whether he had learned the words. “Yeah,” he replied. “It’s not hard.”

Tuchel said he had attended 25 club matches featuring England players since starting in the job on 1 January and, when he was not at a live weekend fixture, he could watch even more games on special screens that offer the full tactical picture. Tuchel is based in London and travels home to Munich to see his children.

“It would be interesting if you make the effort to compare the live views to any other head coach out there in international football. Because I think I did more live matches than anyone else. Everyone tells me it’s easier to watch it not live in-stadium. It gives you the chance to watch it wide-angle, it gives you the chance to watch it tactically, it gives you the chance to watch up to three matches easily in a day – which you don’t have if you travel through London and travel back to Brighton.

“There is no secret that I travel from time to time to see my children in Munich. If I do this, my girls are used to watching the Premier League on TV. So if they are with me on these weekends, they are with their father or they are in the next room and they know that I’m watching.”



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