'I don’t think England have to appoint an English manager – as long as the new manager has success, nobody will care where he’s from’: Premier League legend weighs in on Three Lions boss debate
The FA are taking their time to name a replacement for Gareth Southgate, whose eight-year reign ended with defeat in the Euro 2024 final
Mauricio Pochettino watches Chelsea in action against West Ham in May 2024(Image credit: Getty Images)
Robbie Keane believes that Mauricio Pochettino's nationality shouldn't be a barrier to him potentially taking over as England manager.
The former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea boss, who won 20 international caps for Argentina as a player, has been touted as a possible replacement for Gareth Southgate.
If the FA elected to appoint Pochettino, he would become just the third foreign manager of the England men's national team after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.
"Ideally you would want an international manager to come from the same country as the team, but it depends on who is available and it’s ultimately about getting the right guy for the job," said Keane, speaking on behalf of Betway.
Robbie Keane as part of Ireland's coaching staff
"I don’t think England have to appoint an English manager from the Premier League – as long as the new manager has success, nobody will care where he’s from."
"If England want to go down the foreign route, Mauricio Pochettino is very good with young players, the players all love him and he’s very likeable with the media.
"I know Mauricio very well, and he’s a great guy. If you look at what he did at Tottenham, he gave the youngsters a chance at the very start and did an unbelievable job with them."
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Pochettino has a reputation for playing energetic, attacking football and impressively led Spurs to the Champions League final in 2019, where they lost to Liverpool.
He is currently out of work, and awaiting his next opportunity, after leaving Chelsea by mutual consent at the end of last season.
Lee Carsley holding the UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023 trophy (Image credit: Getty Images)
Aside from Pochettino, Lee Carsley is amongst the favourites for the England job following his success with the Under-21s.
His entertaining side won all six of their games to claim the European Under-21 Championship last summer, with Curtis Jones scoring the winner in the final.
Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon and Levi Colwill, who have all gone on to become full internationals since then, played key roles under Carsley and Keane feels he's a viable candidate.
“There are a lot of names being thrown out for the next England manager, including Lee Carsley, who I played with and know very well. We speak on a regular basis.
"He’s a very good coach, he knows the young English players coming through and the ones who have broken into the first team, and he likes to play good football."
Sean Cole is a freelance journalist. He has written for FourFourTwo, BBC Sport and When Saturday Comes among others. A Birmingham City supporter and staunch Nikola Zigic advocate, he once scored a hat-trick at St. Andrew’s (in a half-time game). He also has far too many football shirts and spends far too much time reading the Wikipedia pages of obscure players.
