Tuchel slams Southgate’s England | Coventry elected first female IOC president | F1 pays tribute to Eddie Jordan
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories and making headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm Rob Jones. Joining me, The Guardian sports writer Jonathan Loo and The Times chief sports reporter Martin Ziegler. Welcome to you both.

But we will start with the comments from Thomas Tuchel, who was in a feisty mood as he spoke ahead of his first game against Albania. He was sat there alongside the England captain, Harry Kane, today. Jonathan Liu, we'll start with a wider point, I guess, that Thomas Tuchel has had a long time since getting the job to think about how to approach speaking as the England head coach. And it feels almost a little bit like playing to the gallery of being the anti-Garrett Southgate, because maybe he felt that at the end of...

Tenier people were perhaps a bit fed up. Some fans were a bit fed up with the way that Southgate approached things. Yeah, I think that's definitely true. I think Tuchel's comments were valid. I certainly agree with him. Anyone who watched England at the Euros would agree with him that this was a team that lacked fluency, that lacked identity, rhythm, that lacked a plan at times. I would obviously question whether it's the judicious thing to say right now. I think Tuchel...

in his career has shown that he has a tongue that can run away with him at times. And that obviously makes him a great copy. It makes him very entertaining. It also gets him into trouble at times. But I think, you know, you're right in that he's simply, he's probably reasoning at this stage that he does need to establish a clear point of difference with the Southgate regime. And instinctively, I think most fans would probably go with him on that. I think there's this idea that, like, England fans have this kind of feral attitude

animalistic rage towards Southgate, like based on, you know, the four guys throwing beer cups at a game once. But I, a lot of the England fans I met on the road, the guys like at tournaments, doing the hard yards, it was never really rage. It was more a kind of sadness, a sense of waste at,

As much as that generation of players did achieve, they could have achieved so much more. So in a way, I think the clarity that Tuchel brings, it's a short-term appointment. It's a marriage of convenience. It's actually quite necessary. We're not on some holistic journey of growth and healing anymore. We're not building towards some distant horizon. You win or you fail. And it's really that simple.

And because it's not a holistic journey and because it's a short-term marriage of convenience, Martin, one of the things that he says about the shirt doesn't weigh heavy, you sort of feel whether that's a little bit easier for him to say as a German rather than an English manager of the England team that he doesn't

He can make an observation from the outside, but can't be entirely sure what the weight of the England shirt is because he isn't in a position where that will be him. He's the England manager, but still isn't English. And that's not a criticism, more just an observation of fact.

Yeah, I mean, he hasn't got the sort of the burden of history, if you like, on his shoulders, because, you know, it's not as though he's somebody that a country has been waiting for, you know, since 1966 to try and get some sort of success. So, yes, perhaps he doesn't feel that. But at the same time, I think it's sort of...

Certainly on the brave side. I mean, this could really rebound and back on him, say if England go out in the quarterfinals of the World Cup and he's saying all these strong things. I think a little bit disrespectful towards Gareth Southgate, actually.

And, you know, if England don't actually go that extra mile, then all these words about playing exciting football, approaching it in the right way, etc., which I know a lot of fans do think that, but for a manager to say that about his predecessor, I think it's quite something. Some of the quotes, actually, Jonathan, sort of almost reignite the discussion points from the summer and actually watching the tournament as to how...

how much of it was success under Southgate and how much of it was, well, it could have been even better. And when Tucker was asked what was missing, he says, the identity, the clarity, the rhythm, the repetition of patterns, the freedom of play, the expression of play, the hunger. They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament than having the excitement and hunger to win. Do you think all of that is accurate? I'd maybe question hunger. I think there were times when England looked as though they were almost trying too hard to win.

they were so clearly fixated on the result, on the end of the process, that they forgot about the process itself at times. And that's, I think, why a lot of their performances degenerated to a kind of melange where everyone's playing number 10 and players are running wherever they want. And there's this kind of turgid incoherence to it.

I don't think that's a lack of hunger. I think that if anything, that's too much. But this was a very, you know, watching the tournament on German TV and following it from within Germany. This was a very common theme that came through a lot of the German commentators and pundits that England lacked a clear footballing identity. And, you know, you might say, well, exactly what exactly is Tuchel's footballing identity? He's been quite a shapeshifter tactically.

in his career so far. So I think the interesting thing is whether at this stage of the cycle, whether you prioritize results or performance, I think it's a kind of paradox of international football that the sort of performances that own you seven, seven nil wins over Albania and Latvia are not necessarily the kind of performances that are going to succeed against elite nations at tournament level.

where you actually need to be quite malleable and patient at times. So the balance at this stage, I think, is basically between winning, but winning in a kind of sustainable, progressive sort of way, but also winning in a way that satisfies the paying public right now. The other couple of points, and again, they're not sort of new discussions or arguments, Martin, is that he talks about all the quality of forwards.

you can still only play four or five. I'm assuming he's not going to play one defender, Declan Rice, and then seven up front. So he still has to choose between them at some point. And the other thing that he said about channeling the strengths of the Premier League, England could be playing in 36-degree heat in the middle of New York next summer and charging around pressing might not be the best way to go.

Yeah, the conditions are going to be, depending where I'm actually playing, the United States are going to be pretty, pretty tough, I think. So, yes, no, you're right. A lot is going to be determined by the conditions there. And you can't go completely gung-ho. I don't think you can go gung-ho in a World Cup anyway. I think it's got to be a balance between the sort of

you know, playing tactically, astutely, playing the right way, having that aggression and that get up and go. But you've also got to be flexible. So it sounds very easy if you're coming from Thomas Tuchel's words, but actually I kind of feel like it's going to be a lot more difficult.

Another of the points then that came from today, Jonathan, is featured in the Telegraph, says, Tuchel, I won't be political like Southgate. Gareth Southgate spoke and was asked on a range of topics during his tenure as England manager. Tuchel says, I think at some point it must be allowed for a football team that is sent to a World Cup to be a football team and not be a political statement and be a political role model for whatever it goes on. Then it becomes sports political. How...

Is that a little bit naive? Yeah. I mean, for someone who was the PSG manager for two years and actually complained quite a lot about the amount of politics involved in the job, should have known that when you take the England job, this is not something that you can recoil from. It's not something that you can realistically... I think everybody can try to keep politics out of it, but...

The reality of it is the way the game is constructed and structured, the withdrawal from politics, from making any kind of moral stance, is itself a kind of politics. And when you're in the end, when you are that figurehead, for better or worse, politics will seek you out, as I think Sam Wallace writes in The Telegraph tomorrow, that this is a job that

has always and will always stand for more than simply putting some guys out on a field in positions. And that's what gives the role its immense power and prestige. But it comes with a kind of responsibility as well. So, you know, whatever flashpoint comes up, whether it's to do with Trump's America, whether it's something geopolitical, whether it's something moral, that will, he will be forced or called upon to

to take a view on it and to give his view. And if his view is simply I don't have a view, well, that's his prerogative, but it's obviously not going to satisfy a lot of people.

yeah that was going to be my question actually martin as to whether things like this and become a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy that because gareth southgate often spoke with such eloquence people kept asking him and to whether journalists who sit there as jonathan says whether it's questions about donald trump journalists will sit there in america next summer and if thomas tuckell gives five no comments in a row

He thinks that people will stop asking him or whether a lack of engagement in the subject is indeed the story itself. Yeah, I mean, it's going to happen, whatever he wants to do, even if he says no comment five times. If there's any sort of issues related to football that happen, if there's an incident of racism or something like that, or it's something Donald Trump says, he's bound to be asked about it. I mean, I remember Fabio Capello, probably the least...

politically engaged England manager there's ever been he was constantly being asked about things and sometimes engaged sometimes usually he didn't but he was still asked about it

Let's move on to the England captain then, Jonathan. On the back of the sun, Harry scoring just so boring. Charlie White writes, Harry Kane claims he's underappreciated as fans have become bored with his stunning scoring stats. I mean, I feel it a lot in the Premier League with Erling Haaland, actually, that we just take scoring 40 goals in a season for granted as if it's happened loads of times before. And again, perhaps Kane's persistent excellence has eventually just sort of

worn off on people, for want of a better phrase. Well, I don't know. It's interesting that he talks about being underappreciated or not getting enough credit. I mean, what is the appropriate amount of appreciation? What is the appropriate amount of credit that he doesn't feel that he's getting? You know, obviously there's a kind of, there's a lot of tribal banter online. There's a lot of ridicule over the trophies and all that kind of stuff and spurs and the penalty against France or whatever. That is simply the nature of football discourse. But I think generally speaking, he's regarded as

possibly England's greatest striker, certainly England's greatest striker of the modern era, certainly one of the great strikers in modern football and an absolute titan at the heart of this England team. So when I hear him talking about not getting enough credit or not being appreciated enough, I'm also drawn to that old truism of sport that you are only as good as your next game. And I think as much as Kane has carried England for a lot of his career, there were times certainly during Euro 2024 when England seemed to be carrying him

And if there's a fire in his belly, if he feels like he's got a point to prove, I think that's great for England. But I think he also has a few doubters over... There are a few question marks over how exactly he fits in to a side full of creative number 10s and attacking talent and how those relationships develop. Yeah, I guess there are two points there, Martin, as to whether...

That was the sign, the Euros last summer was a sign of things to come with Harry Kane as a power in international football or whether it was that he was just a bit weighed down with a back injury and we'll see something different and whether some of that tribal banter that Jonathan was talking about, some of the discourse will change entirely if and when Harry Kane wins the Bundesliga and wins a major trophy with Bayern come the end of the season.

Yeah, I mean, look at his scoring record this season as well. Not just in the Bundesliga, in the Champions League. I don't think anyone is seriously suggesting that he shouldn't be the first choice for England. So I don't think he's underappreciated at all. I think people appreciate exactly what he has done. I mean, it's an incredible scoring record. I think it's at 69 goals and 103, 105 caps for England. It's remarkable and...

I think people think he is England's best striker, one of the best strikers in the world. He will lead the team into the World Cup next season. It will probably be his last major tournament, perhaps, but I think people are still expecting to be at the top of his game. A lot of the newspapers carrying tributes to Eddie Jordan, who has passed away at the age of 76, a former Formula One team owner.

who eventually lost his battle with cancer. A lovely picture of him and the former world champion, Damon Hill, in the Telegraph. There'll never be another like my friend Eddie. A lot of the conversation, a lot of the tributes, Martin, have included the references to character and charisma and someone who left a real impression, not just on the sport, but on the world.

Yeah, he was a remarkable person. I mean, I was amazed to read that he had only, during his 15 seasons as a Formula One owner, that he'd only actually won four Grands Prix because his influence was so much greater than that. I mean, every time he opened his mouth, which was quite a lot,

He created a new story because he was so enthusiastic and controversial and full of it. And he really helped put Formula One on the map in the 1990s. Michael Schumacher obviously famously gave him his debut, took Damon Hill on. So he was one of the people who actually laid the foundations for the sport that it is today and that is so successful now.

I think when someone has character though, Jonathan, it can be sort of, you can almost forget the talents they hold as well. And clearly, given that he launched an F1 team that went toe-to-toe with the elite for a while, involved in other sports with Celtic, with a consortium that had brought out London Irish, that obviously incredibly driven, incredibly talented as well as being a great character.

Yeah, and obviously, people refer to him as an entertainer, as a charismatic guy, and he was all of those things, but at his heart, he was an incredibly serious racing man. F1 is a sport of dynasties and nepotism and patronage and wealth and connections, and Eddie Jordan didn't grow up with any of that. He was a bank clerk. His dad worked for the electricity supply board in Dublin. And Ireland is not a country with an F1 heritage, and he made this dynasty all by himself. He worked his way up through the junior formulas,

incredible spotter of talent, you know, John Lacey, Martin Brundle, Damon Hill, like obviously Michael Schumacher at Jordan. And the other thing is like, he's one of the last great, it was one of the last great one-man teams. Certainly one of the most, the last successful ones. Like this is a sport that's basically run by, by giant car conglomerates. And for, you know, over a decade, a bloke from Bray went toe to toe to them. So, you know, it's a throwback and I think he's a genuine one-off. Damon Hill is quite right. There won't be another like him.

There you go, tributes to Eddie Jordan who has passed away at the age of 76. Right, let's get to the news again which features in most of the back pages across the papers that Lord Coe has missed out on the chance to become the new president of the IOC with Kirsty Coventry elected instead. We will get to Kirsty Coventry, the first African, the first woman, the youngest ever president of the IOC in just a moment. But first, Jonathan, how damaging a day is this for Lord Coe?

Yeah, for Lord Coe, and I think a lot of people who championed him, you know, I think you're going to be able to water your plants tomorrow with the tears of British sports writers. I was...

There was a lot of voices in the UK media, which I think saw this whole race through kind of co-tinted glasses. And in reality, I think the odds were always quite massively stacked against him. You know, unlike Kirstie Coventry, unlike Sam Arantz Jr., he co-wasn't on the IOC's executive committee. I think he'd been a member for about five years. He's antagonized a lot of powerful elements within the organization, whether it was over Russia, whether it was over, you know, like prize money for Olympic medalists.

And then basically, you know, allowing this whole campaign to be kind of defined by this very niche culture war obsession with gender identity. This is the biggest job in world sport, arguably. You have to deal with geopolitics and war, climate change, who gets to host the Olympics, who gets to call themselves an Olympic sport. It is an absolutely humongous job. And I think to run that kind of campaign...

as well as it played in the British press, I think it made him look small, to be honest. And it clearly didn't go down well with the IOC members. Were you surprised, Martin, by the manner of the defeat to get just eight votes out of 97? Yeah, I was surprised he didn't get more votes than that. I wasn't surprised that he didn't win because Kirstie Coventry is the...

the establishment candidate, Thomas Bach, the incumbent president, put all his force behind it. It was almost anyone but Coe, as far as Thomas Bach was concerned. So he was up against that for a start. And I think...

You know, this is a very strange organisation, the IAC, made up of... It's like a private members' club made up of royals and ex-politicians and some sports administrators. And, you know, they... I think Seb Coe was far too radical for them, really, and they just... They opted for the safe alternative, and it sounds like it may be pioneering because she's the first female president, but actually, yeah, she is very much the continuity candidate for...

well yeah i just wanted to reference something you posted on social media martin earlier says kirsty coventry's election as the first female president of the ic may seem like a positive step but she is very much the establishment's choice with thomas back lobbying hard for almost certainly against the rules do not expect reform or change at ioc wada cass etc so you feel that it's very much the status quo and that thomas barker has got what he wanted as his outgoing wish

Yeah. You know, for example, one of the things Seb Coe has done at World Athletics, he's really stepped up the battle against drugs in athletics, done really, really well. And the number of cases that have been uncovered, I think, are unrivaled in any other sport, and especially compared to before he took over.

So I think he was very keen to reform the World Anti-Doping Agency, very keen to bring in other changes around, as he said, around paying medalists prize money for getting gold medals, for example.

And I think Kirstie Coventry, she won't do any of that. It will all be keeping it as it is, basically. Just a final word to finish then, John, just quickly on that. I mean, that is quite sad, isn't it? That when it seems revolutionary, there is someone with a different perspective to offer, that that different perspective might not necessarily come to pass in the way she operates in the next eight years at least.

Yeah, I just think if you want to reform an organisation like the IOC, and I think we could all agree that it lacks transparency, it lacks accountability, and it does need reform. I don't think the way to do it is to make very grandiose public statements about how opaque

and out of touch the organization is when you're trying to win their votes. That just seems to me like a little bit of a failure of diplomacy. And I think eight votes in the first round suggests that. Yeah, Kirsty Coventry, I think, you know, Bach was very clearly advocating for her. She was very clearly the establishment candidate. And I think that does signify more continuity. What that means for the Olympic movement, I have no idea. But I think what we're going to see is a little bit more of the same.