Dan Burn has linked up with the England squad for the first time in his career and was left surprised by one thing about Thomas Tuchel.
It’s been an incredible week for Dan Burn and it looks likely to get even better during the international break.
The Newcastle United hero guided his club to their first trophy in 70 years, scoring the opening goal with a fantastic header in the 2-1 win over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.
Alexander Isak scored what transpired to be the winner after Federico Chiesa pulled one back late on to make a nervy closing stretch.
However, it was to be Newcastle’s day at Wembley and it’s yet to fully sink in for Burn, who has now linked up with the England squad.
The centre-back received his shock first call-up at 32 years old last week and didn’t drink with his teammates in Sunday’s celebrations as he aims to grasp his international opportunity with both hands.
After meeting with new England manager Thomas Tuchel on Monday, Burn was taken aback by how tall he is.
Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Dan Burn left wowed by Thomas Tuchel’s height
During a press conference in which he was asked about his first England squad as manager last week, Tuchel was predictably asked about Burn’s surprise inclusion.
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Tuchel remarked that Burn is ‘such a tall guy but obviously, it is easy to overlook him.’
When asked in his own first England press conference on Tuesday if the comment made him laugh, Burn said: “Yeah, a little bit.
“It’s probably the story of my career really. Visually on the pitch when, if I do make a mistake or something like that, I feel it’s magnified just by how it looks but yeah it did make us laugh.
“I was surprised about how tall the gaffer was, to be honest. I obviously, remember him from Chelsea but I never came up to him so I was like: ‘Wow you’re actually quite tall.'”
Dan Burn asked if the England manager needs to be English
There has predictably been a debate surrounding whether the England manager should be in English in the wake of the German Tuchel being hired through to the 2026 World Cup.
Burn was asked about his own thoughts on the debate and gave a concise response: “I don’t think it really matters.
“It’s not the first time we’ve had a manager from a different country and if Thomas comes in and he’s the most qualified manager for the job and can make people perform and ultimately get to the World Cup and win it, I don’t think it should matter what nation the manager comes from, in my opinion.”
Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello are the other foreign managers to have taken charge of England.