The China Mail - England boss Tuchel wants to 'earn right' to sing national anthem

The prickly issue of the anthem was raised when Tuchel named his first England squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers with Albania and Latvia on Friday.

The 51-year-old German explained his approach to the issue ahead of his England debut against Albania at Wembley on March 21.

"I think, first of all, you have a very powerful, emotional and meaningful national anthem and I could not be more proud to be on the sidelines and be in charge of the English national team," he said.

"It means everything. It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel because it is that meaningful and it is that emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it."

Tuchel, only the third non-British manager of England, confirmed he does know the words to "God Save the King", but for now he won't be singing them.

Lee Carsley, who represented Ireland in his playing career, made headlines during his interim spell in charge of England last year when he declined to sing the national anthem.

"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," said Tuchel.

"I will earn it 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 earned 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'."

- 'A little bit of trust' -

Tuchel also defended his work-life balance after missing certain Premier League fixtures during the first 10 weeks of his tenure.

The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss has been working from Germany at times since taking charge of England in January, sparking criticism in some quarters.

"I was at 25 matches in the last nine weeks," Tuchel said. "On the Premier League weekends where I don't go, I watch a minimum of five matches live on a wide-angle screen.

"I watch more if you don't see me than if you see me in the stadium, because if I go to the stadium on a Saturday, I don't see the match before and I don't see the match after.

"Listen, I need a little bit of trust from you that you trust me to do the job on a high intensity and in the best way possible.

"There is no secret behind it that I travel from time to time to see my children in Munich. And that's basically it. My girls are used to watching Premier League on TV.

"On these weekends you mention, they are with their father or they are in the next room and they know that I'm watching. There's no more to it."

K.Lam--ThChM