Lee Carsley’s suggestion that the next England manager should be someone with trophies on his CV is well-intentioned and understandable, but also largely draws on the examples of other, more successful countries.
Current world champions Argentina were guided to ultimate glory in Doha by Lionel Scaloni, a coach whose only previous experience was with his country’s Under 20 team.
European champions Spain, meanwhile, have a 63-year-old at the helm in Luis de la Fuente, who dabbled in club management in vain and then started winning once he was embedded in the international system. So far he has won trophies for Spain at U19, U21 and, last summer in Germany, senior level.
This tells us what people in the English FA have known for some time, namely that coaching at international level is a very different business to club management. Our own FA has gone the serial winner route before. Sven-Goran Eriksson, Fabio Capello. Where has that brought us? Quarter-final and home.
So Carsley could be wrong. The FA could hire Pep Guardiola – if they can afford it and twist his arm. It would give them a decent shot at the Holy Grail, while at the same time guaranteeing them absolutely nothing. Gareth Southgate, meanwhile, came into the job eight years ago and took us to our first major tournament final since 1966. His club history with Middlesbrough was limited to say the least.
Lee Carsley claimed the next England manager should be ‘world class’ and have won trophies
But coaching at international level is a very different matter to club management, as England found during eight hugely successful years under Gareth Southgate.
Lionel Scaloni won the World Cup with Argentina, despite little success beforehand
But if it is an English manager that the FA might one day want to appoint, who do we blame for the fact that there isn’t one currently available who fits the criteria Carsley laid out when he spoke next? his team defeated Finland on Sunday evening in Helsinki?
It’s easy to look at St George’s Park and ask questions about the system. The national headquarters has been open for twelve years. Are we producing meaningful young English coaches? That is undoubtedly the case and Carsley could creditably join that ranks after leading the U21s to European Championship success in 2023.
What we appear to be less good at as a footballing nation is giving our managers the jobs they need to build on their skills and foundations. All coaches need a platform and in England we remain strangely reluctant to provide this to those who prove worthy.
In the Premier League, only four British managers are currently appointed by clubs when they were already in the top division.
Eddie Howe at Newcastle (they previously offered it to Unai Emery), Sean Dyche at Everton (after a fan uprising followed an attempt to appoint Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira), Steve Cooper at Leicester and Gary O’Neil at Wolves .
These days, if a domestic coach wants to work in the Premier League, he generally has to take a club there himself. Howe did it at Bournemouth, Dyche did it at Burnley, Cooper did it at Nottingham Forest and now Russell Martin and Kieran McKenna have pulled off the same trick at Southampton and Ipswich.
The last homegrown appointments by what we can describe as major Premier League clubs were Frank Lampard and Graham Potter at Chelsea in 2019 and 2022, David Moyes at Manchester United in 2013 and Brendan Rogers at Liverpool in 2012.
Luis de la Fuente also led Spain to Euro 2024 after an unsuccessful spell in club management
Pep Guardiola could be the answer, but his incredible pedigree guarantees absolutely nothing
So that’s two in the last ten years and, as we know, Potter was given seven months for his spell to work. Moyes didn’t join United for much longer and they then went from Louis van Gaal to Jose Mourinho in search of a quick fix that continues to elude them to this day.
English football at the highest level is still consumed by a snobbery that can be breathtaking. It exists in boardrooms and in ownership circles, just as it exists in the stands on match day and in the written and broadcast media.
The belittling of Potter since his sacking by Chelsea, for example, has been extraordinary. His performances through the ranks before taking the job were impressive and we are fully aware of the chaos that engulfed his time at Chelsea. Mauricio Pochettino also couldn’t make it work at the basketball club, but for many, Potter’s struggles at Stamford Bridge remain as proof that he is a small manager who belongs in a small group.
Potter would quickly improve England. Howe would do that too. That goes for Cooper too, and honestly, Rodgers too. Instead, we’re sitting around talking about the golden tickets we think are held by Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel. Sometimes in sports we get exactly what we deserve.
International coaching is a unique calling. It’s about choosing squads, creating environments and then being able to choose smart teams and make in-game calls that can enhance a tight game your way. Some of the best have the most extraordinary backgrounds.
Carsley arguably has the pedigree he references after winning the 2023 Under-21 European Championship
There are plenty of top-class English coaches, such as Graham Potter (left) and Eddie Howe (right), but we remain strangely reluctant to give them the opportunities they need
But if we really want to ever see a line-up of English Premier League prospects, we all need to do better.
Luton manager Rob Edwards received all kinds of praise for his work at the Bedfordshire club last season. However, no one offered him a job after they were relegated. He’s still there.
And what about the last British manager to win a European trophy? They enjoyed what David Moyes did for West Ham on that evening in Prague in June 2023. They look back with pride on the Europa Conference League victory.
But soon afterwards they were still running Moyes out of town. They gave his job to a Spaniard who had not done a good job at Wolves before.