The FA have been blown away by the ‘really strong impact’ Thomas Tuchel has had in his first two months as England head coach.

The German, who started his new job on January 1 after being announced as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October, faced criticism last month after it emerged that he had been working from home.

His arrangement with the FA allows the 51-year-old to make regular trips back to Germany to visit his family.

‘Yeah, it’s been brilliant. He’s made a really strong impact,’ said Bullingham.

‘He’s really hit the ground running. He’s been up there (St George’s Park) a lot and spent a lot of time with people.

Thomas Tuchel was at Nottingham Forest’s FA Cup victory against Ipswich Town on Monday

Arsenal teenagers Ethan Nwaneri (left) and Myles Lewis-Skelly are in contention for a call-up

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham is gushing in his praise of Tuchel’s start as England boss

‘He’s living in London and based up at St George’s Park, and we’re delighted with him.’

Tuchel has drawn up a lengthy 55-man longlist ahead of announcing his first England squad next Thursday.

Many of the contenders have been phoned up by the new boss for the World Cup qualifying matches against Albania and Latvia at Wembley on March 21 and 24 respectively.

The wide-open list puts the likes of Arsenal teenage starlets Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri right in contention for a first call-up.

Tuchel was at Nottingham Forest’s FA Cup fifth round victory against Ipswich Town on Monday and has since been at England base St George’s Park.

Bullingham said: ‘He realised early on that you don’t build those connections in the 60 days you get together, so he’s put a lot of effort into that.

‘I think he’s got 55 on this long list and makes sure that he’s got a strong connection with them, that they know that he’s seen them. It’s not only the players in England. It’s players playing abroad as well, and I think that that will only stand (us) in a good stead in the long run.’

Tuchel is on an 18-month contract, which has been typical of the length he has signed during his varied managerial career. At Bayern Munich, for example, he was on a two-year deal. Bullingham has not ruled out the contract being extended for a much longer period in the future.

Bullingham believes that Tuchel, who began on January 1, will be England boss for a long time

Liverpool boss Arne Slot rants at referee Michael Oliver after last month’s Merseyside derby

‘I think he always said, ‘I might be here for 10 years, but I’ll only ever sign up in two-year cycles’ effectively,’ he explained.

‘He just wants his sole focus to be on the next tournament and be really single-minded with the players on that, but it’s very early to judge.’

It was confirmed Mason Greenwood has formally applied to switch allegiance to Steve McClaren’s Jamaica, shutting the door on the 23-year-old playing for England.

Greenwood has courted attention after impressing for Marseille this season, scoring 15 goals in Ligue 1.

The ex-Manchester United striker made his only England senior appearance in September 2020 against Iceland in which he and Phil Foden broke Covid regulations.

Greenwood has since been banished from the squad and has now been able to apply for changing allegiance because he was under 21 at the time he played for England.

When asked if Greenwood has made the move because it was indicated to the striker that he wasn’t going to be picked, Bullingham replied: ‘No, we actually didn’t have that communication.

‘I don’t think there was ever a request. It just wasn’t one we got to, so it’s a personal decision by him.’

Mason Greenwood has formally applied to switch allegiance to Steve McClaren’s Jamaica

Bullingham also said he is in support of bodycams for Premier League referees.

Abuse towards referees has been a contentious topic for some time and again came to the fore after the FA this week revealed Liverpool boss Arne Slot had launched an X-rated rant at referee Michael Oliver after the 2-2 Merseyside draw with Everton last month in which he said, ‘If we don’t win the league, I’ll f****** blame you’.

Slot was subsequently given a two-match ban and fined £70,000.

He added: ‘I personally think it (bodycams) is good and is something which should be trialled and potentially allowed. I think initially it might be trialled without audio and then long term trialled with audio.’