Table of Contents
Four men are vying to top the FA’s wish list if Gareth Southgate ends his eight-year spell in charge of England.
Following the Three Lions’ heartbreaking defeat to Spain in Sunday’s Euro 2024 final in Berlin, the head coach’s position has become uncertain.
Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino, Eddie Howe and Lee Carsley represent a wide range of coaching backgrounds, experiences and abilities.
But who should be given the nod to become England’s 16th permanent manager?
Here our experts explain what each candidate would bring to the role.
Gareth Southgate could opt to leave as England manager after Sunday’s defeat in the Euro 2020 final
The Three Lions suffered a painful defeat against Spain at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin
Graham Potter (pairs)
By IAN LADYMAN
The former Brighton manager is not very different from Southgate in terms of his behaviour and his way of seeing the world.
He is an intelligent and erudite man, capable of seeing the bigger picture and who would represent English football in the best possible way. He is also a better coach than Southgate.
Potter has modern ideas, is flexible and loves possession football, which would be ideal for a talented English team.
Potter’s work at Brighton was fabulous. He transformed the way his team played in the space of a season.
As for Chelsea, I think they’re a passer. They’re practically unmanageable.
What does count against Potter is the fact that he has not worked for over a year. I think he needs to work at another club to prove that he is ready to play in England. He is an England manager with a future, but maybe not this time.
Graham Potter has been out of work since leaving his post as Chelsea manager in April 2023.
Eddie Howe (3-1)
By CRAIG HOPE
Eddie Howe should be the FA’s first choice. He has all the human qualities of Southgate: he is genuine, intelligent and an excellent coach, and he carries himself with dignity and calm. He is also averse to controversy.
But add to that his coaching credentials and commitment to attacking football. If English fans want a style they can embrace, Howe’s philosophy will likely deliver. Just ask Newcastle supporters how much they have enjoyed watching their team since he arrived in 2021.
Howe is also pragmatic when needed, as evidenced by his side avoiding relegation in his first season. He would be an upgrade on Southgate in terms of tactics and ability to direct specific patterns of play.
No English manager has finished better in the Premier League than him over the past two seasons, and he is the latest Englishman to take charge of a Champions League side.
He has improved as a coach during his time on Tyneside and his standing continues to grow. He is the prime candidate.
Eddie Howe was first linked with the England job before Southgate was appointed in 2016.
Lee Carsley (4-1)
By Jack Gaughan
Watching this England team at the Euros, with its small deficiencies that snowballed into much larger structural problems, reminded me of a month I spent in Georgia last year around this time.
The U21s won the European Championship for the first time since 1984. They beat Spain in the final. They did not concede a goal in six games. And no English team has ever played such expansive, yet coherent, modern football as the best in the Premier League.
Carsley, the man behind that triumph – who has been in the FA system for seven years and recently turned down the Republic of Ireland, among others – has spent some time under the radar. He has also avoided managers in the past, but the 50-year-old now looks set to step up, wherever that may be.
He is a popular figure. If you ask any Under-21 player about Carsley, the first words, without exception, are the same: “A top-class coach.”
Lee Carsley has been England Under-21 manager since July 2021, having previously managed the Under-20s.
Mauricio Pochettino (6-1)
By SAMI MOKBEL
Well, it’s safe to assume that Captain Harry Kane would completely agree!
Kane and Pochettino became friends during their time at Tottenham, and Kane’s emergence as a genuine European force came under the Argentine’s tutelage.
The former Chelsea manager is a kind guy who would look to continue the culture of inclusion that Southgate so masterfully promoted. The kind of manager who would have his players stand up to him.
But there is one issue that is clear in the room: his nationality. Imagine the first question in his presentation: Diego Maradona, 1986, the Hand of God. The FA may decide that it does not need to bother so much.
Mauricio Pochettino (left) had an excellent relationship with Harry Kane at Tottenham Hotspur
Pochettino is someone who knows English football like the back of his hand. He has experience working with elite players: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and, of course, Kane.
However, even though it shouldn’t, his nationality – and England’s checkered history with his homeland – would pose a problem.
