ENGLAND’S new manager has a ruthless streak that has seen him fall foul of players and club bosses — but it might be just the job for the Three Lions.

Those who know him best admit Thomas Tuchel has not been out to win any popularity contests while fighting his way to the top.

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Football writer Carsten Germann told The Sun: “He’s absolutely unhumorous.

“He’s not a coach for the people.

“He’s a football scientist, he puts tactics and results over all.

“But that winning mentality is what England could need.”

Tuchel, the 51-year-old former chief coach at Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain, was caught on video bawling out a young striker — and French superstar Kylian Mbappe said the only German word he learned from him was “scheisse” (s***).

Tuchel, who has followed rival Jurgen Klopp into posts at various club sides, has also been known to bristle if compared to the former Liverpool boss.

Experiences that have shaped him include one seven years ago, while manager of Borussia Dortmund, when he survived a bomb attack on the team bus, with shrapnel striking seats close to him.

And the father of two ended his 13-year marriage to an ex-journalist after allegedly beginning an affair with a Brazilian businesswoman 14 years younger than him.

But there are also accounts of him offering warm words of encouragement to stars in one-to-one chats — and paying for his cleaner’s son to receive life-saving medical care.

Tuchel was born in the small town of Krumbach in Bavaria, and was coached by dad Rudolf with the local side.

At 15 he was spotted by top-flight German club Augsburg, and he played three times for the national Under-18s.

Yet teammate Heiner Schuh recalled: “He had few friends as he was exacting and demanding.”

Defender Tuchel turned professional at lower league Stuttgart Kickers. He never drank with the other players and is still almost teetotal, often opting for drinking warm water.

A series of knee injuries ended his playing career when he was at FC Ulm, aged just 24.

The cartilage damage was considered wear and tear by the insurers, so he did not get a payout.

He said: “I was insured for everything apart from this one lousy condition.”

Tuchel waited tables at the Radio Bar in Stuttgart in 1999.

It helped him become more gregarious and fund his business administration course at university.

A year later he was hired as a youth coach at top side Stuttgart, before moving on to Augsburg’s second team and then Mainz 05.

In a shock move he was promoted from under-19 coach to first team manager in 2009.

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ANDY DILLON: Thomas Tuchel has all the ingredients to become a classic England manager – tactical nous, drive and a tangled love life

By Andy Dillon

THOMAS TUCHEL possesses all the ingredients to become a classic England manager.

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Tactical nous, drive, energy, experience – a tangled love life.

English football should welcome back the most explosive, dynamic, charismatic and impossibly tall and gangly coach to have lit up the Premier League.

Chelsea’s colourful former boss has been leading a settled life in Munich of late.

Far enough away from ex-wife Sissi but close enough to see his two daughters.

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Walking his dog in the streets in the east of Germany’s most fashionable city, residing in the posh Bogenhausen area. Living relatively quietly with his Brazilian girlfriend.

Tuchel is a vastly different personality to the man who led England quietly but assuredly to the brink of World Cups and European Championships.

An excitable nature can make him hard to handle for those seeking calm and who like to impose their way on a manager they view very much as an underling.

Read more on why Tuchel REALLY IS the best man for the England job

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Tuchel admitted at the time that the Bundesliga club had been willing to take the risk because it had worked with Klopp in the past.

In the same year he married Sissi, a journalist at the highly respected national newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

She reportedly gave up her career to bring up their two daughters, Emma and Kim.

Sissi, who is very private, was seen by his side celebrating successes on the pitch as unfashionable Mainz twice qualified for the Europa League.

But an amateur cameraman caught Thomas screaming at young striker Shawn Parker for almost a minute in the dressing room after one game — before telling him: “So go join the under 17s.”

Club executive Christian Heidel wanted his manager to engage with the fans and media more — like the popular Klopp did.

But he regretted starting a conversation saying, “with Kloppo we used to . . .”

In an unauthorised biography titled Rulebreaker, Heidel said: “That’s when Thomas started yelling at me, ‘How dare I?’

“The conversation was over.

“I thought to myself, ‘Whoops, I hit a nerve’.”

He’s very sensitive to criticism

Football writer Carsten Germann

England’s Liverpool players, such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, may do well to remember that anecdote.

Indeed, Tuchel’s thin skin could be a problem as England coach — where flak comes with the job.

Carsten, who has interviewed Tuchel, said: “He’s very sensitive to criticism.”

Who has Tuchel coached?

Here is a list of the England stars that have already worked with Thomas Tuchel…

• Harry Kane – Bayern Munich
• Eric Dier – Bayern Munich
• Mason Mount – Chelsea
• Reece James – Chelsea
• Ben Chilwell – Chelsea
• Callum Hudson-Odoi – Chelsea
• Ruben Loftus-Cheek – Chelsea
• Raheem Sterling – Chelsea
• Ross Barkley – Chelsea
• Tammy Abraham – Chelsea
• Conor Gallagher – Chelsea

However his undoubted talents led Dortmund to hire him as Klopp’s replacement in 2015.

Two years later he won Germany’s equivalent of the FA Cup and reached the quarter final of the Champions league.

In April that year a controversial 3-2 defeat against Monaco showed how hard it can be to know the truth about Tuchel’s character.

It came after he survived the team bus attack, which left him being viewed by some as a heroic defender of his squad, and by others as a callous villain.

Sports journalist Pit Gottschalk’s book Locker Room Whispers reported he responded to seeing tearful players by saying: “I’m supposed to beat Bayern with these wimps?”

The manager gave a totally different account. He had been angry that his side had been ordered to play the game against Monaco just 24 hours after the bombing.

He said: “We had the feeling we were being treated as if our bus had been hit by a can of beer.”

Bizarrely, it turned out that perpetrator Sergei Wenergold hid homemade devices filled with hydrogen peroxide and a dozen bolts close to the bus in order to make money on the stock exchange.

Shortly before the attack he “bet” that the club’s shares would drop.

In November 2018 Wenergold, 35, was jailed for 14 years.

The fallout from the incident caused a rift with Dortmund’s chief executive and Tuchel was dismissed.

He joined PSG, taking the French side to their first Champions League final.

He’s a football scientist, he puts tactics and results over all

Football writer Carsten Germann

However it was reported that he fell out with star player Mbappe as well as Brazilian sporting director Leonardo, and he lost his job.

Before leaving the French capital, Tuchel heard his cleaner’s son was going to hospital and paid for his care.

In January 2021 he arrived in London, replacing Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager.

Tuchel took them from ninth in the Premier League to fourth, qualifying for the Champions League, but lost in the FA Cup final to Leicester.

Off the field, there were problems with Tuchel’s marriage.

He started a relationship with Brazilian Natalie Guerriero Max, 37, and in 2022 he split from Sissi.

Natalie, who still lives in London, could be one of the reasons he was keen to take the England job.

An insider said: “Thomas is obsessed with Natalie, but he is still close to his children and is a good father who sees them often.”

Tuchel led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2021, masterminding victory against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Yet he was dismissed by the club’s new American owners in September 2022.

An email included in Sissi’s divorce papers suggested that he had been fired for “’off-field reasons” with the players “losing respect for him.”

But the manager remained in demand.

Hired by Munich, he won the league title in his first season before a poor set of results the following year led to yet another departure.

Three Lions fans will be hoping Germany’s loss is England’s gain.

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Forgotten England stars could benefit from Tuchel appointment

WITH Thomas Tuchel announced as the next England manager, a few forgotten stars might be hopeful of a return to the international set up.

The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager usually uses a 3-4-3 formation.

That could provide an opening for Mason Mount, who’s not been involved in the England set-up since the World Cup in 2022.

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The now Manchester United star enjoyed his most successful spell under Tuchel while the pair were at Stamford Bridge.

Tuchel could also offer lifelines to other previously capped players such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Eric Dier.

RLC has excelled since his move to AC Milan and with England struggling to find a partner for Rice, he could be the surprise answer.

Meanwhile, Dier played for Tuchel at Bayern Munich as part of a back-three last season.

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The defender did enough to convince the club to make his loan move permanent after he had fallen out of favour at Tottenham.

Click here to see the full England XI who could play under Tuchel.

German laughter at rivals’ boss bid

By Rob Pattinson

THE Sun’s front page announcing Thomas Tuchel as the new England boss was the talk of Germany yesterday — even being retweeted by its ambassador in Britain.

Diplomat Miguel Berger cheekily added a laughing emoji as he sent out yesterday’s splash with the headline “Football’s coming home” translated into German.

He wrote: “A German manager for England! Congrats to Thomas Tuchel. A brave decision.”

Reaction across Germany was mixed, with many gleefully mocking Tuchel’s deal to manage their arch rival.

Bild, the country’s biggest-selling newspaper, used a picture of The Sun’s splash and claimed England must be desperate if we were turning to a German.

It said the ideal outcome would be England losing the World Cup final to Germany on penalties.

An online vote had 80 per cent of Germans gloating England would not win the World Cup with Tuchel.

And one journalist wrote: “The desperation on the island must be enormous if they admit that only a German can help now.”

Upmarket magazine Der Spiegel promised Tuchel “can be trusted” but warned he would inevitably “face anger” for crossing the North Sea.

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Arsenal’s loyalty in Eidevall eventually backfired.

Despite failing to progress from the qualifying rounds of the Women’s Champions League last season, they handed him a new three-year deal in October 2023.

That caused controversy and a failure to challenge for the WSL title and the FA Cup afterwards did not help the 41-year-old’s case.

It was compounded by Arsenal’s decision not to offer record goalscorer Vivianne Miedema a contract extension in the summer after an apparent falling out with Eidevall – and she has thrived following her free transfer to rivals Manchester City.

Inconsistent results and a tendency to start the season slowly has been harmful so Arsenal and Eidevall made it clear that needed to change in August.

They went to the United States for pre-season to get the players ready for Women’s Champions League qualifying and they progressed, though not convincingly.

Poor results against Everton and Bayern Munich followed, as well as a draw with current WSL leaders City and defeat by Chelsea at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal had backed Eidevall in the transfer market, recruiting Sweden striker Rosa Kafaji among others, but he has overlooked her so far this season.

Discontent had been growing among the fanbase and last weekend’s 2-1 defeat by Chelsea was a tipping point. While Arsenal were not planning any immediate action, Eidevall felt he could no longer take the team forward and came to a quick decision.

WITH a bullet lodged three inches from her heart and several stab wounds, boxing champ Christy Martin lay on the floor and prepared to throw in the towel.

But then a voice in her head said it was not her time to die just yet.

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Showing incredible strength and de- fiance against her monstrous husband Jim Martin, who had just tried to kill her, Christy dragged herself outside, where a passing stranger took her to hospital.

Now, 14 years on, the woman who made female boxing mainstream, fought as the undercard to Mike Tyson and was the first female slugger to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, is being played by Sydney Sweeney in a movie about her life.

This week, the actress was unrecognisable during filming on location in North Carolina.

The as yet untitled flick will show how the fighter from small- town West Virginia took the sporting world by storm, earning more than £3million during 35 undefeated bouts, only to lose herself in domestic violence and drugs.

Christy, now 56 and happily married to a woman having divorced violent former manager Jim, is keen to make one thing clear: “It is not a boxing movie.”

She said in an exclusive interview: “That was the main thing I wanted to stress when I met the producers.

‘Not born to box’

“This is the underdog story. It’s about domestic violence, sexuality and sexual abuse.

“I’m a coal miner’s daughter from a small town and no one expected I would make it. And at the same time, I had all these other things happening in my life.

“I hope it’s a movie that, in ten years, a father will sit down with his daughter and say, ‘These are the things I don’t ever want you to endure. I don’t ever want you pushed into a relationship’.

“I want parents to watch it then say to their children, ‘If you’re gay, we will love you no matter what’.

“I want people to know that to be a professional boxer, you don’t have to sell your soul to the devil. It’s a complex story and I hope it’s got a lot to say to lots of different people.”

It was November 2010 when Christy, following years in an abusive marriage, finally plucked up the courage to walk out the door.

Enraged Jim stabbed his wife multiple times in the chest and shot her once with her own pink revolver.

The bullet narrowly missed her heart and her leg was cut almost to the bone.

But in a heroic effort, she managed to escape and flag down help.

Anyone But You actress Sydney, 27, signed up to play Christy despite — or perhaps because of — being famed for racy TV shows, rom coms and horror movies until now.

Both women hail from unfashionable US towns. Sweeney is from Spokane, Washington, while Christy grew up in Mullens, West Virginia.

But while the Hollywood star, who set pulses racing in Euphoria and White Lotus, is engaged to producer Jonathan Davino, Christy spent much of her life hiding her sexuality.

Heterosexual actors playing gay roles has proved controversial in the past.

Sydney coming onboard is huge. I met her over a Zoom call the other day. She has a mixed martial arts background, so she understands combat sports. It’s not exactly the same, but she understands the mentality

Christy

But Christy said: “I wasn’t worried that a straight person would be playing the part.

“I was more concerned how she would feel portraying a gay person. I think she will do fine. It’s acting, so you get to be whoever you want, straight or gay.

“Too much is put on that stuff. Let’s just be us and whatever happens, happens.”

She added: “Sydney coming on board is huge. I met her over a Zoom call the other day. She has a mixed martial arts background, so she understands combat sports. It’s not exactly the same, but she understands the mentality.

“I watched her in Anyone But You and I liked her. It will be interesting seeing her being me and I’m excited.

“Sydney is an A-lister. If you ask a young guy who she is, they know her, so I think she’s pretty cool.”

Christy first boxed in college, aged 18, when she was secretly dating a woman.

Raised in America’s devoutly religious Rust Belt, her parents would not have approved and fighting was an escape.

At her current home in Austin, Texas, Christy said: “I was definitely not born to box.

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“I accidentally stumbled into boxing while I was in college. I thought it would be a great challenge and I got hooked.

“My mother wasn’t happy about it and my dad said, ‘If you are going to do it, get trained and don’t get hurt’. I trained very hard.

“I think the instinct to go for a knockout came from the emotional turmoil within me. I knew I was gay and I knew it wasn’t going to be accepted.

“My family was very religious. When I was six, an older cousin sexually molested me and I didn’t tell anyone because I was scared. I had a lot of internal turmoil and, when you get into the boxing ring, you can be aggressive and violent and that is acceptable.

“But to learn the skills I had to spend hours in the gym on hand pads trying to improve my hook and jab. I had to work really hard. Nothing came easy for me.”

‘Prayed to survive’

The sporting star was 22 when she met Jim, who was 25 years her senior.

They married in 1991, at a time when she was becoming a household name, on a run of 35 consecutive fights undefeated and appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1996.

The same year, she fought on the undercard to heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson in a bout promoted by Don King.

Boxing brought unimaginable riches and she estimates she made around $4million in a career that stretched from 1989 to 2012, and saw her win the WBC female super-welterweight title in 2009.

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Meanwhile, her troubled personal life ended up bringing nothing but pain.

She said: “Jim controlled every move I made and every person I spoke with. I was his ATM machine, his only source of income, and he isolated me.

“I tried to love him and be happy, but he knew I had feelings for women and he would threaten to expose me. It was not easy to be accepted as a female boxer, and I was always worried my fans would turn against me if they found out I was gay.”

In 2007, she began using cocaine to escape the misery and it took her three years to kick the habit.

She said: “My husband was supplying me with coke and I was snorting it. Before I even got out of bed in the morning, he would bring a line to me. If I complained I was tired after the gym, he would crush up a line before I had the chance to take my gloves off. I would be up for days — coke, coke, coke — and I was drinking a lot of beer. I wouldn’t even leave the house because I was afraid someone would see me high.

“I’m lucky I didn’t die. I looked in the mirror one night and thought, you look like an addict.

When I lay down, I was ready to die

Christy on night Jim tried to kill her

“And I had to accept, you don’t look like an addict, you are an addict.

“It took me a couple of days to get clean, but I had to realise, this is not who I am.”

Christy’s husband had always vowed he would kill her if she left him.

And in 2010, when she finally plucked up the courage to walk out of his life, he attempted to make good on his word.

Having found the strength to fight back from the brink, Christy now lives with fellow former boxer Lisa Holewyne, 58, who she fought in Las Vegas in 2001 and married 16 years later.

Christy said of the night Jim tried to kill her: “When I lay down, I was ready to die.

“But at some point during the attack, I told him, ‘You can’t kill me’, and I prayed to survive.

“I believe God had a plan for me, which must be talking about domestic violence and stopping others from going down that path.

“And I hope my ex spends every day of his life in jail.

“If he ever gets out, I am convinced he will kill me and, who knows, he might. I still look over my shoulder sometimes. He always told me, ‘If I can’t kill you, I will find someone that will’.

“I get the occasional message from someone who has been in jail with him, and that shakes me up a bit.”

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Shohei Ohtani launched a three-run homer for the Los Angeles Dodgers that punctuated their 8-0 victory over the New York Mets in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night in New York.

Kiké Hernández hit a two-run shot to make it 4-0 in the sixth inning and waved to the Citi Field crowd he quieted. Los Angeles rebounded from a loss at home and grabbed a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series by pitching its fourth shutout in the past five playoff games.

Ohtani connected in the eighth, a 410-foot drive that soared into the second deck in right field and barely stayed fair above the foul pole.

Max Muncy went deep in the ninth for his 13th career postseason homer, tying Corey Seager and Justin Turner for the franchise record. Muncy also connected in Game 2.

Shohei Ohtani destroys a three-run homer, extending Dodgers’ lead

A fired-up Walker Buehler struck out Francisco Lindor to leave the bases loaded in the second, and the Dodgers got five stingy innings from their hard-throwing bullpen. Buehler combined with four relievers on a four-hitter.

Game 4 is Thursday night in Queens, with $325 million rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto scheduled to start for Los Angeles against veteran left-hander Jose Quintana.

Michael Kopech worked a hitless fifth for the win, and Dodgers pitchers finished with 13 strikeouts.

Mets starter Luis Severino fell behind 2-0 in the second, partly due to some shoddy fielding. He did not permit an earned run but threw 95 pitches and walked four in 4 2/3 innings, taking the loss.

Slumping catcher Will Smith knocked in a run with an infield single, and Tommy Edman had a sacrifice fly that could have been more if not for a sensational catch on the right-center warning track by Tyrone Taylor.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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It’s very hard to answer this question.

Before Monza, McLaren believed that would be a relatively weak circuit for them, but they qualified first and second, although Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc beat them to victory.

Before Singapore, you might have said that street circuits were Red Bull’s Achilles heel, which would have led one to believe Las Vegas might be an issue for Verstappen.

But Verstappen finished second in Singapore, against expectations.

So, the answer seems to be no. It’s just a question of who does the best job each weekend.

DARREN BENT scored 221 goals in nearly 600 games for club and country — but none more famous than the one with the most bizarre assist in football history . . . off a BEACHBALL!

Fifteen years ago tomorrow, his fifth-minute shot for Sunderland deflected off a stray red inflatable that completely deceived Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina before going in.

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It clinched a 1-0 Premier League win over the Reds and is the goal he is forever asked to talk about.

Bent, now 40 and a presenter on talkSPORT, said: “I speak about it all the time because the moment was a complete freak situation.

“Seriously, when have you ever previously seen a beachball thrown on to a pitch before the start of a football match? Balloons, toilet rolls . . . but a beachball?

“And the way in which the wind blows in off the coast across the Stadium of Light pitch, what are the chances of that beachball staying on the pitch for five minutes for that amount of time?

“Then when the match ball is crossed to me, at that precise moment it cannons off the inflatable and diverts it in the net.

“I think all the odds of that happening are greater than getting all six numbers on the lottery.

“Even if I tried to re-enact that situation I’d struggle to do it because the beachball would blow away or I’d struggle to hit a shot that would connect with the inflatable.

“It was a complete one-off, almost from a bygone era.

CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS

“Plus, with VAR today there is not a chance that the goal would stand.

“I’m also pretty sure my shot for that goal would bamboozle stat boffins for my xG!”

Bent recalled the moment the ball was crossed from Andy Reid and flicked in by Steed Malbranque.

He added: “In my head it was always the same when I was in a situation like that: ‘Hit the target’.

“The moment I struck it and saw the ball deflect and go in, I ran off celebrating. I knew it hit something, my first instinct was it came off Liverpool defender Glen Johnson’s leg.

“Then I was aware of Liverpool players protesting about the goal.

“I felt a bit for referee Mike Jones because I was told he was demoted to the Championship the following week. He was faced with an unprecedented situation.

“He had no monitor to go and look at to check how the goal had gone in. It was a complete one-off.

“The most frustrating part is I could and should have scored two or three more goals that day.

“We absolutely battered Liverpool but it just so happened it ended up being the winning goal!”

Bent did have sympathy with the Reds fan, Callum Campbell, 16 at the time, who threw the beachball onto the field and received terrible online abuse in the days that followed.

The former England striker added: “When I read about that, I found it quite appalling.

“Here was a football fanatic enjoying the atmosphere of following his team away. Everything about what he did that day was as a supporter of his club.

“As I have previously said, it was just a freak of nature that everything conspired into that moment. He had no clue — like the rest of us — how it would pan out.

“After the game, I remember talking with Glen Johnson, who remains a close friend, and keeper Pepe Reina about how it could have happened.”

The historic beachball is on display as part of The People’s Collection at the National Football Museum in Manchester. Or is it?

Bent said: “I’m led to believe that’s where it is, although I’ve also been told there is a guy in the North East who has it, so it’s open to debate.”

The ex-Ipswich, Aston Villa and Tottenham ace is happy to carry on talking about it — although he admits among his 221 goals it would not even rank among the top 200!

He added: “If I had £1 for every time I have had to talk about it over the last 15 years, I would feel like a lottery winner!

“But I suppose it’s nice to be remembered forever as scoring one of the maddest goals in the history of the Premier League.”

Listen to Darren Bent on his talkSPORT Drive show every Monday to Friday, 4pm to 7pm with Andy Goldstein.