‘Wouldn’t you go all out for…’
Gary Lineker has named the manager that he believes England should go “all out for” to replace Gareth Southgate – Jurgen Klopp.
England’s defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday night is likely to bring an end to Southgate’s eight-year reign in charge of the national team.
During his spell as Three Lions boss, he has guided his side to back-to-back European Championships finals and a World Cup semi-final across four tournaments.
But it now feels like a new manager may take over.
Lineker names preferred candidate
Dissecting the fallout of the game on his Rest is Football podcast, Lineker discussed with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards the topic of potential replacements should Southgate decide to call it quits.
Names such as Eddie Howe were thrown about however the Match of the Day host touted Jurgen Klopp as the ideal candidate.
He said: “I’m fairly convinced [Southgate will leave].
“The right person to bring the nation together and now maybe it’s time for somebody else with a more modern, attacking style of football. I think the game has gone away from being successful if you’re defensive.
“Do you go English? There’s only really Eddie Howe. Say Gareth does call it a day? I suspect he will, it must be so tough, demanding, so hard.
“If you English, we mentioned, somebody maybe like Lampard, who would get respect. But wouldn’t you go all out for Jurgen Klopp?”
Richards then responded with the idea of appointing Pep Guardiola, to which Lineker responded: “We’d all love Pep, but Klopp is out of a job and would have had a bit of a rest.
“Club managers are paid an awful lot of money, I can’t see the FA stumping up that sort of cash.”
Southgate addresses England future
As for Southgate himself, the England boss has insisted that now is not the time to discuss his position and it will take time for him to decide what the next step is going forward.
He told Radio Five Live: “Now is not the time for me to discuss that. I understand the question of course, but I need to speak to the right people – we will go from there.
“It has been an amazing experience to lead a team to a final, but at the moment to come up short is very painful.”
