Less than 3 months after losing the EURO 2024 final, England continued to disappoint when they lost for the first time at Wembley to Greece - an opponent ranked only 48th in the world. After Gareth Southgate left the chair, England fans expected a breath of fresh air from interim manager Lee Carsley.
However, the lackluster, uninspired style of play under Southgate was repeated in the match against Greece. Not only that, Carsley himself is hesitant and does not want to stick with the England hot seat for long. The 50-year-old strategist still wants to return to the England U21 team after 6 Nations League matches.
The message could force the Football Association (FA) to change its plans. Previously, FA managers were expected to appoint Carsley to lead the national team, similar to the way they appointed Gareth Southgate in the past.
According to The Athletic, the shortlist of candidates for the England hot seat was prepared immediately after Southgate resigned. In addition to English names such as Eddie Howe, Graham Potter or Frank Lampard, the FA is also considering the option of appointing foreign coaches. Among them, Pep Guardiola is the number one candidate.
FA managers consider Pep to be the most successful and knowledgeable coach in English football. Not only that, the Spanish captain's contract with Manchester City expires next summer. This is the most suitable time for the FA to plan to find someone to sit in the England hot seat. This prospect is even more feasible after Pep's statements at the beginning of the 2024-2025 season.
“After this season, I will decide what I want to do with my life. Do I want to continue to lead Man City? Should I take a break? Or move to lead the national team? I will have to think about many other things,” Pep shared.
After his successes with Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona at club level, Pep Guardiola may be tempted to conquer titles at the national team level. One of those is the most challenging challenge in world football - helping the "Three Lions" win their first title in nearly 6 decades.
During his 15 years in charge, Pep has been described as a strategist with “crazy” ideas and a desire to make the team invincible. The clearest evidence is that Pep took over Man City and Bayern after unsuccessful seasons, then turned these two teams into top teams in Europe. Therefore, the scenario to help England aim for the 2026 World Cup with familiar factors such as Phil Foden, Kyle Walkers, John Stones or Jack Gearlish... completely convinced Pep Guardiola.
The biggest challenge for foreign coaches when leading a national team is understanding and adapting to the football and culture of that country. With Pep, he even understands English football better than native strategists. According to statistics, since the 1992-1993 season, only 6% of Premier League, FA Cup and EFL Cup titles have belonged to teams led by English coaches. During the same period, 12% of these titles belonged to Guardiola.
Not only that, after 8 years leading Man City, the Spanish strategist is also very familiar with the media and the pressure from English fans. Whether they are fans of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea,.. all have special respect and desire for Pep's signature for the role of captain of the "Three Lions".
In the past, England has not produced many excellent strategists in the history of world football. Therefore, the FA chose Jose Mourinho in 2007 and Arsene Wenger in 2016 but were unsuccessful.
