Former England striker Teddy Sheringham says the Three Lions should target Pep Guardiola if manager Gareth Southgate leaves his role at the end of Euro 2024.
Southgate’s contract runs until December and there was fresh speculation this morning that the Football Association hopes to persuade him to stay on beyond the 2026 World Cup.
That appears unlikely given the 53-year-old has considered walking away before and said before the tournament in Germany that it was likely to be last one in charge of his country.
England’s run to the final, where they meet Spain on Sunday, may prompt a change of heart but the smart money would be on England needing to find a new coach to lead them to the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico in two years’ time.
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Go for Guardiola
Sheringham, who won 51 caps as a player for England, believes Manchester City boss Guardiola is the obvious candidate.
He told Fair Betting Sites: “If I were in the FA and given the choice, I’d break the bank for Pep Guardiola. I don’t know whether he’d like to take the job – if he was given the opportunity he’d probably have a stab at the Spain job, although they seem to be in a good place with Luis de la Fuente at the moment.
“We’ve obviously never seen him manage a national side before, but he’s worth taking the risk on. He’d be my pick to replace Gareth Southgate – the FA could realistically afford it, so what’s there to lose?”
Guardiola is entering the final year of his contract at City and admitted after their record fourth successive Premier League title in May that he was “closer to leaving than staying”.
He has spoken before about wanting to have a crack at international management but it remains to be seen if the timeframes coincide even if Southgate does leave.
Spain 🆚 England
Berlin. Sunday.#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/f1NqmQfOpO
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 10, 2024
Southgate has a game to focus on
Southgate’s more pressing concern is Sunday’s game in Berlin where England hope to claim their first major international trophy since the 1966 World Cup.
Sheringham is confident England can get the job done.
“It’s going to be a really tough game, but I’m expecting us to win,” he said. “We’ve seen how good the Spanish have been all tournament, they’ve probably been the best side out of the lot. All of England’s players all over the pitch need to put in nine out of 10 performances, then collectively we need to be at our best as well.
“I’m hoping that can be enough for us to win by the odd goal – I’m going with 2-1 to England.”
