England manager Thomas Tuchel has become the object of affection for many football fans, who are declaring him the 'fittest' England manager in history. After England's World Cup quarter-final victory over Norway on Saturday night, Tuchel's passionate touchline demeanor and post-match comments have sparked a wave of admiration on social media.
Tuchel's tough love wins fans
Speaking to ITV after the match, Tuchel said: 'We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today. The result is fantastic. We are in the last four. It's amazing but not happy with the performance – in every sense. We were lucky today. We will get better. We need to. Now it's celebration. Now it's taking it all in. We have three days. We need everything.'
Rather than alienating fans, this hard attitude has stirred up a different kind of passion. Beth McColl, host of the Everything Is Content podcast, said: 'I think he's such a gorgeous, maybe a generational gorgeous, England guy. That's my man. Isn't he stunning?' Social media users echoed this, with one fan named Gwen adding: 'He's got a very grounding presence, you immediately trust him. Big leader energy.' Pearl said 'he's genuinely so fit,' while another wrote: 'He's definitely my "hear me out." His cheekbones and eyes are beautiful.'
Psychology behind the crush
Debbie Keenan, a senior BACP-accredited psychotherapist, explained that attraction is about more than physical appearance. She told Metro: 'We're naturally drawn to people who are confident, competent, and emotionally secure. Thomas Tuchel has many of these qualities through his leadership of the England team. Seeing him command respect and inspire his players can make him appear more attractive because our brains often associate competence and authority with desirability, which is known as the "halo effect."'
Keenan added that the attraction factor is less about him being 'mean' and more about him coming across as 'decisive, assertive, and confident.' She said: 'Strong leadership, clear boundaries, and the ability to perform under extreme pressure can be very attractive traits in a person.'
Exposure effect and parasocial relationships
Hannah Jackson-McCamley, a BACP-registered psychotherapist specializing in sex and relationships, noted that Tuchel's role as England manager implies genetic health and fitness. 'His role as England manager suggests social success, and he may exude character traits such as efficiency and confidence,' she explained. She also pointed to the 'exposure effect': 'If he was a colleague IRL, we might not give him a second glance, but the intensity of the World Cup coverage means he is on our screens and in our homes, which develops an illusory intimacy.'
Georgina Sturmer, a psychotherapist and counsellor, previously told Metro that such crushes often relate to parasocial relationships – the way we relate to people we don't actually know. 'These might be politicians, musicians, film stars or other people in the public eye. And while elements of these relationships are based on reality, they are often also amplified by the assumptions and characteristics that we project onto these people.'
Power and attraction
Sturmer added that power plays a role: 'It's natural that we might find the idea of a powerful person to be an attractive one. If we consider someone else to be powerful, then there's an implicit suggestion that they might be able to protect us and keep us secure. It's not necessarily the power itself that we're attracted to, but it's the qualities we might link with it.'
Tuchel joins a list of unlikely crushes, including former prime minister Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham, who have also been subjects of lusty fan edits on TikTok. Meanwhile, players like Jude Bellingham, Djed Spence, Declan Rice, and Noni Madueke continue to be fan favorites for their looks as well as their skills.
