The English Football Association (FA) is moving quickly to find a replacement for Gareth Southgate considering that England will appear in the UEFA Nations League in September 2024. England is in Group B2 of the UEFA Nations League along with Finland, Ireland and Greece. They are scheduled to play Ireland at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, on September 7 2024. However, the squad nicknamed The Three Lions currently does not have a coach after Gareth Southgate resigned on Tuesday (16/7/2024) or two days after the Euro 2024 final.
Southgate was appointed as England coach on 28 September 2016. He accompanied the Three Lions in 102 matches with a record of 64 wins, 20 draws and 16 defeats. He took England to the 2018 World Cup semifinals, Euro 2020 final, 2022 World Cup quarter-finals and Euro 2024 final.
FA CEO, Mark Bullingham, emphasized that he wants a new England national team coach to be named as quickly as possible. “The search process for Southgate’s replacement has begun and we hope to have a new manager confirmed as soon as possible,” he said. “The FA has a temporary solution if necessary and will not comment further on the process until a new coach is appointed,” added Mark Bullingham.
Here are 7 names that have the potential to replace Southgate, quoted from the BBC:
1. Lee Carsley
The FA is considering Lee Carsley, who currently serves as manager of the England U21 national team, to be Gareth Southgate’s successor. He has been with the FA for a long time and led England to win Euro U21 2023.
2. Josep Guardiola
Guardiola is still under contract with Manchester City until 2025. However, his success at club level with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man City is an interesting consideration for the FA.
3. Eddie Howe
Currently, Howe is still coaching Newcastle United. However, he has been mentioned as a potential England coach since taking charge of Bournemouth. He brought Bournemouth up from League One to the Championship and finally became a Premier League team. His reputation continued to increase after bringing Newcastle through to the 2023-2024 Champions League. Just like Guardiola, Howe also still has a known contract until 2027 at Newcastle.
4. Jurgen Klopp
Klopp is currently unemployed after stepping down as Liverpool coach at the end of last season. However, it seems difficult for the FA to bring in Klopp because he has made it clear that he wants to rest and not train in the near future.
5. Maurico Pochettino
Pochettino is no stranger to English football because he has played for Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. He has never brought an English club to victory, but he successfully led PSG to the Ligue 1 title, French Cup and French Super Cup.
6. Graham Potter
Potter’s name was flashy when he coached Brighton & Hove Albion in 2019-2022. However, his reputation declined slightly after he was fired by Chelsea in April 2024 or less than 7 months after he was first appointed to coach the team known as The Blues.
7. Thomas Tuchel
Tuchel is also currently looking for work after no longer coaching Bayern Munich at the end of last season. He has 11 titles while coaching at club level, including the Champions League and Club World Cup with Chelsea. He was reportedly close to replacing Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, before the club nicknamed the Red Devils extended Erik ten Hag’s contract.
