Gary Lineker jokes Thomas Tuchel is a 'German spy' with clear England agenda

View 2 Images

Gary Lineker has joked that

Thomas Tuchel

is a "German spy" whose job is to make sure

England

suffer because

Germany

are struggling so much at major tournaments.

He is the first German to lead the Three Lions and had presided over a perfect qualification campaign and some impressive

World Cup

wins. His tactics and managerial IQ were seen as a difference maker, but England were undone by

Argentina

in the semi-finals.

Tuchel is copping blame for the defeat with his defensive tactics, which had paid dividends against

Mexico

and

Norway

, proving the team's undoing. They invited huge amounts of pressure and Argentina eventually made it tell late in the game.

Lineker has jokingly suggested that Germany have sent Tuchel in to ruin England's hopes of winning but did cast doubt over whether the ex-

Chelsea

boss should remain in his post.

The former England striker said on

his Netflix show

: “I just wonder whether Thomas Tuchel’s like a German spy, we’ve been infiltrated, I think Germany, because they’re not very good at the moment, they can’t get past the group stage, and I think they’ve sent in someone.

“I mean, I’m joking, I’m joking obviously, but he said after the

Croatia

game, he said, ‘if we lose, we’ll lose our way by playing aggressive, attacking football’, he went totally against that, didn’t he? I think the most frustrating thing as well was this team, they had a chance if they’d gone for it, and they just got it I think so wrong.

“And is he the right man to take us forward? Well, I mean, I never ask for anyone to get sacked, I don’t think it’s the thing to do, but it depends on him and how he feels, and also how the FA feels.”

Germany have continued to underwhelm at major tournaments, enduring a steep decline since their World Cup win in 2014. They made the last four of the Euros in 2016 but since then have gone out at the group stages of two World Cups in 2018 and 2022, and were shocked by

Paraguay

in the Round of 32.

That cost Julian Nagelsmann his job and the Germans have now turned to

Jurgen Klopp

, who is tasked with taking the nation back to the summit of international football.

Content cannot be displayed without consent