Jamie Carragher has claimed the next England manager should be an Englishman following the resignation of Gareth Southgate earlier today.
The 53-year-old saw his side lose out to Spain in the final of EURO 2024 on Sunday evening and has now decided to call it a day after 102 games in charge of the Three Lions.
Southgate guided England to two finals, a semi-final and a quarter-final during his time but the FA must now being their search for his replacement.
Eddie Howe, Graham Potter and current England U21 boss Lee Carsley have emerged as the leading contenders to manage the nation and ex-Red Carragher has now weighed in on the situation.
“I’m not a believer of foreign managers managing England,” the Scouser told Sky Sports. “It’s nothing against foreigners – what foreign managers and players have done to the Premier League is amazing.
“It’s basically made what our league is today which is the envy of the world. But we’re not an emerging nation, we’re England and I know we’ve only won one trophy but other countries on our level – Italy, Spain, Germany – they don’t have foreign managers. We don’t need a foreign manager, we’ve done it before.”
“I was involved in those times under Sven (Goran-Eriksson) and Fabio Capello – it wasn’t great. Not a patch on what Gareth Southgate’s done.
“He had no pedigree in management before getting the job and I think that tells you in itself that it’s not about going and getting the best manager in club football. Club football is completely different. Spain have just won the tournament with a coach no one really knows. I’m not a big believer in that you have to get a Jurgen Klopp or a Pep Guardiola and that will make the difference.”
“International football is knockout football. If you look at the Champions League, Pep Guardiola doesn’t win it every year even though he’s the best manager and probably has the best team. Things can go awry, things can happen.”
Everyone will have their own opinion on whether Southgate’s time as England boss can be viewed as a success or not.
The former England international did come close to winning a first trophy since the 1966 World Cup but ultimately he failed to do so.
His playing style and loyalties to some players often drew criticism. His treatment of Trent Alexander-Arnold during the EUROs in Germany this summer baffled Liverpool supporters with the Scouser being one of the most creative players during the first two games of the tournament but then being dropped for Kobbie Mainoo for the remainder of it.
We highly doubt Jurgen Klopp will be interested in the job after admitting he needs a break from football but we’ll just have to wait and see.
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