The FA’s decision to appoint German Thomas Tuchel as national team head coach raises serious questions about English coaching, former England defender Gary Neville has said.

Former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss Tuchel, 51, is the first German to manage England and only the third foreigner to take charge after Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello.

Newcastle United’s Eddie Howe, one of only three English managers in the Premier League, and former Chelsea head coach Graham Potter were among those linked with the job before the FA named Tuchel as their successor. Gareth Southgate on Wednesday.

“They probably have the best manager available in the world at the moment,” former Manchester United captain Neville told Sky Sports News.

“Meeting these criteria, they are absolutely perfect.

“I’m not sure it meets the criteria of St George’s Park, the confidence in English coaches and the growth in performances of English teams over the last few years.

“Everyone in our country, including myself, will wish him all the best and hope we can get over the line and win a trophy, but I think there are serious questions the FA must answer regarding English training.

“I think we are doing ourselves a disservice by accepting that Tuchel is better than any of the other English coaches.”

Tuchel, who will be assisted by England coach Anthony Barry, will begin his role in January ahead of England’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.

England reached the European Championship final in 2020 and 2024, as well as the World Cup semi-finals in 2018, under Southgate but are still without a major trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

“I’m not the most patriotic of people, the England manager has to be this or that – it’s not about England,” former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher told Sky.

“It’s international football. The interest, especially with the big nations competing for titles, is that it’s our best against theirs.”