The FA has made contact with Pep Guardiola on a potential appointment as the future manager of England, with the Manchester City manager anticipating his next course of action in the upcoming weeks.
According to The Times, the governing body approached Guardiola at the beginning of the season since Gareth Southgate had resigned after his team’s loss in the Euro 2024 final. The Spaniard is seen as the best candidate for the position, even though the contact made is said to be informal.
Pep has an enormous number of awards from his time at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and City, where he guided them to four Premier League victories in a row. With his tika-taka approach at Barcelona, Guardiola, who is regarded as one of the best football managers of all time, revolutionised the game.
Guardiola becomes top choice for English FA
Though it goes without saying that, should he become available, Guardiola would be the top choice among the remaining options. The manager of City has acknowledged that he might be persuaded to take charge of the Three Lions in an interview.
Guardiola responded to the TV show Che Tempo Che Faf, when asked if he has accepted the England job:
“It’s not true. I’m Manchester City manager. I’ve not decided anything, everything can happen. So I don’t know. I still need to reflect and decide what I want to do.”
England’s senior team is now led by Lee Carsley in an interim role; but, following their defeat by Greece last week, his chances of being appointed permanent manager have diminished. Despite Carsley’s suggestion that he is not the right fit for the long run, they managed to defeat Finland on Sunday.
“I’ve not really thought much about it. I keep saying the same thing. My remit was six games and I’m happy with that. This is a privileged position. I’m really enjoying it but I didn’t enjoy the last two days. I’m not used to losing in an England team, I don’t take losing well,” he told ITV after the win over Finland.
“People are always going to try and put their chips on one side. I’m in the middle. My bosses have made it clear what they need from me. This job deserves a world class coach who has won trophies and I am still on the path to that.”
“We were looking for a reaction and this is only four games into it so I’ve still not quite worked out how the team respond to setbacks. But they’ve responded in the best way tonight. Scored three good goals but disappointed to concede at the end. We had a lot more control, massive possession, lots of passes and created a lot of chances.”
“But we can still be better. The way Finland set up they were well organised with five at the back. When you have that amount of possession you’re always going to get chances at 70 minutes onward and the subs made an impact.”
