Thomas Tuchel's new deal shows England post is no longer The Impossible Job

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Almost amusingly, it had become inevitable. The Football Association wanted a bit of assurance and a big name going into a ‘home’ Euro 2028 and Thomas Tuchel quickly realised what a cushy number it is.

Remember when it was commonly known as the Impossible Job? Not any longer. Not under this FA, not with this squad of players.

Under this FA, not winning a tournament is good enough. That was the bottom line with Gareth Southgate. He had four tournaments, won none of them, and only stopped being England manager through his own choice.

And that is why it is no longer the Impossible Job. Reaching the last eight is sufficient. It was for Gareth at Qatar 2022.

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And with the number and quality of the players an England manager has at his disposal, reaching the last eight should be little short of a formality. It is no longer impossible because the FA do not demand anything close to the impossible.

As long as there is no humiliating flop involved, they want the security of having an established figure signed up for a while. That was the thinking as long ago as 2010 when, ahead of the World Cup in South Africa, the FA removed a break clause in Fabio Capello’s contract.

England stunk the place out but the FA were stuck with Capello. Tuchel has a better squad than Capello had and England will almost certainly give a good account of themselves this summer.

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His working hours and location are flexible, to say the least. What is not to like? What is not a ‘lot of fun’.

OK, it will get a little bit more arduous out in the States, but a group involving Panama, Ghana and Croatia should be comfortably negotiable. And Tuchel does have a lot of good players to choose from, to the extent where some are talking about the likes of Phil Foden and Cole Palmer not being certainties to travel.

Jude Bellingham is not a lock-in for the starting eleven. That means Tuchel has excellent options.

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They should go far at World Cup 2026. But as long as there is no disgrace, Tuchel will crack on.

What has changed since his short-term appointment? It was a perfect World Cup qualification campaign but it was against Andorra, Latvia, Serbia and Albania, for goodness sake. Tuchel’s England were thumped by Senegal, don't forget.

So far, Tuchel has seemed a good fit for the role and is clearly a high-quality coach. But let’s see how he does on the biggest international stage of all.

Er, or maybe not. Let’s give him a new contract anyway. The Impossible Job? No, the Cushiest Job.

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