It has escaped those England fans and writers who have a rather large problem with Thomas Tuchel’s German-ness that their royal family has German roots.
When Queen Anne died on August 1 1714, “the German Elector George Louis of Hanover was proclaimed king of Great Britain in absentia”, noted the DW agency. “He was the only possible heir to the throne, and the first German to ascend an English throne.
“At the beginning, his British subjects were not amused. The German king did not set foot on English soil until two months after his proclamation and was crowned King George I on October 20, 1714.”
The first King George was German. His son, Georgie II, also born in Germany, took over. George III, the grandson, was born in England but married the German Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. They had 15 kids, just enough for an England rugby team that might win.
Queen Victoria, who was George IV’s niece, married her cousin, the German Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. George V married Mary von Teck, who was born in London and the daughter of a German nobleman. The English loved both Albert and Mary. Then World War 1 happened, and the British/English decided they didn’t like the Germans any more.
World War 2 entrenched that hatred. And, now, more than 80 years later, England has a German coach. Surely England football fans could have seen a pattern forming? They can be a very Tuchy Tuchy lot. What will they make of their new leader-hosen? Will they embrace the new Kaizer Chief and love him with songs of “Herr we go, herr we go, herr we go”?
As the Guardian postulated, they are divided into three camps: “Those who think he is the best candidate who is currently available and aren’t particularly fussed that the 51-year-old’s a forrin; those who would rather have an Englishman in charge of the national team (unless the man in question happens to be Pep Guardiola); and those who have been sent to the brink of total madness by the apparently extraordinary decision to hire a forrin so GERMAN, they felt compelled to spell Tuchel’s nationality out in giant block capitals under a hysterical headline, with an editorial about this being ‘A DARK DAY FOR ENGLAND’.”
Many advantages
That editorial was printed in the Daily Mail, which is owned by Lord Rothermere, a tax exile in France. His predecessor, Harold Sidney Harmsworth, the 1st Viscount Rothermere, the proprietor of the Daily Mail, was a fan of Adolf Hitler. In 2015, papers were released that showed he had “sent a series of supportive and congratulatory telegrams to Nazi Germany’s leaders, including Hitler, just months before the second world war.” He also used his papers to push his support of fascism.
On September 27 1930, The Spectator reported: “Lord Rothermere goes on to say that the future of Germany lies in the hands of Herr Hitler, and he advises his countrymen to recognise the ‘many advantages’ which German Fascism offers to Europe.”
Patriotism, the last refuge of the scoundrel, the rallying call of the racist, the rhetoric of the ignorant. Patriotism has been misunderstood, warped and weaponised, wielded by some who have Nazi tattoos. Back to the wonderful Barry Glendenning of the Guardian on the fury of the Daily Mail and the singers of God Save Our (German) King.
“The subtext (and indeed much of the actual text) in the comment piece and an accompanying polemic was clear — while almost 80 years may have passed since the end of the second world war, Germans should still be ‘for the watching’ and certainly shouldn’t be put in charge of the national football team.
In appointing Tuchel, the excessively woke FA is selling its proud heritage down the river Rhine to a nation of humourless, ruthlessly efficient, garden gnome-loving, bratwurst-eating, Lederhosen-wearing sunbed-hoggers, whose first order of business will almost certainly be replacing that effing England band everyone dislikes with a more upbeat oompah equivalent, whose members might refuse to soundtrack international matches with a relentless dirge from the soundtrack of a 1963 film set during one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history.”
Why didn’t they chose an English coach? Well, because they weren’t the best candidates. Lee Carsley, the interim, looked dead set for the job until he got ahead of himself and went gung-ho against Greece. Eddie Howe has little wow. Graham Potter walked into a post-Tuchel Chelsea at the start of the era of dysfunctionality.
England football has a new leader. Gott schütze den König.
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