Former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson has had his say on who he feels should be the next Three Lions boss amid speculation surrounding Gareth Southgate's future in the role.
England are still reeling from their World Cup quarter-final elimination after they were beaten 2-1 by reigning champions France on Saturday night. Southgate's men gave a decent enough account of themselves in what was their sternest test of the tournament, but a late penalty miss from Harry Kane summed up the night - plenty of promise but unable to get over the line.
Having been dumped out of what was Southgate's third major tournament at the helm, there are now plenty of question marks over just how much longer the former Middlesbrough boss is going to get in the England hot-seat.
This has in turn led to conversations among fans and pundits alike over who their ideal Southgate successor would be if the 52-year-old was to step aside.
Eriksson has boldly suggested former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino, but claims he doesn't think the Argentine would be a popular choice.
"Pochettino would be a great fit for England but the English don’t want a foreign manager," the ex-England boss explained. "I could imagine Mauricio Pochettino as the manager of England. When he was with Tottenham, he did a great job, I still don't understand why he was sacked. The football players play under him is fantastic too.
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The Swede went on to discuss how most of the elite-level coaches in football have already been snapped up by clubs, before admitting he'd actually like to see Southgate be given more time.
"Most of the big managers are busy with their clubs, if you look at Pep Guardiola, he will not leave Manchester City, why would he do that? You have many coaches like that who England will be unable to appoint if Gareth Southgate was to leave.
"Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel are two very good names, but I hope England keep Southgate for another two years, why not keep him?
"England will always want an English manager in charge, it's in their blood. We foreign managers who have been in that job always were criticised for not being English. If I was the FA, my number one priority would be to keep Southgate, because I don't know what English manager would be available to take over."
Southgate himself has added fuel to the rumours his time as England boss could be coming to an end as he admited he feels "conflicted" over his future.
“I’ve found large parts of the last 18 months difficult," he confessed. "For everything that I’ve loved about the last few weeks, I still have … how things have been for 18 months.
"What’s been said and what’s been written. The night at Wolves. There’s lots of things in my head that’s really conflicted at the moment."
