Only the German Otto Rehhagel has won a World Cup or European championship as a hired gun manager (Euro 2004 with Greece). All the other 38 have been won by natives. But the FA, which stumbled into the Gareth Southgate era, and then failed to groom a suitable successor from the Under-21s path he had emerged from, is desperate to avoid criticism. 

By appointing Tuchel, it will feel it has shown it has done all it can. In other words, if he fails then the FA can shrug and suggest that perhaps, as the mythology has it, this is an impossible job.

But it is not impossible. It just needs good planning, development and a belief in the principle of international football. That is not to be hostile to Tuchel, or indeed the Lionesses’ Sarina Wiegman. The fault does not lie with them. Neither does their success change the picture. It just ignores the fundamental problem.