Ange Postecoglou won’t be England manager – MASHAHER

England don’t have a manager any more, and opinion is split over whether Gareth Southgate was fantastic. The Football Association is on the hunt for his replacement. Eddie Howe, Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel have all been linked to the job, as well as Lee Carsley, the England under-21s coach, and Pep Guardiola, the ‘Hail Mary’ hope.

Thanks to the London Telegraph, Postecoglou has now been linked as well.

The link, however, appears rather tenuous: they report that he is “expected to be on the list of candidates being considered”, which is different from knowing he is actually on it. The report says that FA’s technical director John McDermott has tracked Postecoglou for many years, and concludes that he would be a good fit for the criteria guiding their search.

And he would be. Postecoglou has surely by now proven himself to be one of the best coaches in the world, so good that it would be almost a dereliction of duty if he wasn’t on their list. He also has the gravitas the role requires. But beyond that, he would be precisely what England is missing: a manager with a plan, a clear identity, someone who can not only get them to a final like Southgate did, but win it.

Much of the criticism of Southgate was about his over-reliance on individuals, on getting the ball to mega talents like Jude Bellingham or Bukayo Saka and hoping they would conjure something in the final third in absence of a collective attacking system. On sitting back, yielding possession and springing forward on the counter. Maybe his ideas were a little more sophisticated than that, but the evidence suggests if they were, it wasn’t working out.

Reprising his early career role as a television analyst for ITV during the Euros, Postecoglou said England needed to play with “a little bit more freedom and confidence”. A frightening thought. Their players are more than good enough to play Angeball. Heck, Postecoglou thought the Socceroos were good enough 10 years ago. Imagine what he’d do with them? Imagine if he finally got his hands on Harry Kane? Imagine the brick walls he could make them all walk through?

And then imagine the reaction from Middle England if Ange’s Three Lions faced, say, Sweden in a friendly or Nations League clash or whatever, and they copped a red card or two, and he still kept his defensive line on halfway, and they lost. And then imagine how they’d react when Postecoglou is inevitably asked if he would consider changing his ways, and he says: “Nah, mate.”

Or imagine if he endured all of that and helped England win something. Have we hardy souls in the Australian soccer community not suffered enough?

Reality check time. Postecoglou hasn’t spent almost 30 years climbing the coaching ladder to get to a club like Tottenham Hotspur, and endured all the questioning and criticism he did in his first season in the Premier League, just to up and leave for a job where you’re on an even bigger hiding to nothing, and go through it all again.

Loading

Indeed, it’s very difficult to imagine a guy like him leaving the 24/7 sensory overload that is the club game any time soon to return to the irregularity of international football, having already endured it for a decade in total with Australia’s senior and junior teams – perhaps with the sole exception of a romantic stint in charge of Greece in his twilight years, whenever they happen to be.

For his part, Postecoglou knocked it all on the head pretty quickly.

“I was having a nap this afternoon. I have no idea,” he said after Spurs beat Heart of Midlothian 5-1 in Edinburgh, their first pre-season fixture, early on Thursday (AEST).

“I’m the Tottenham manager, and I’m determined to bring success to this club. That’s where my focus is totally.”

It’s not going to happen. And for that, we should all be very grateful.

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.