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Liam's avatar

Great write up Grace, really enjoyed the read ☺️

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Pimlico Tiger's avatar

Thanks Grace, well considered as always. Mentioning four ex-Chelsea managers is my siren song though, so....

Potter had two big failings at Chelsea: wanting the side to be tactically flexible but not building up to that from a basic set up and layering complexity. So it felt like he was making up as he went along. He selected lineups based on the flexibility they offered and they were sometimes borderline insane. He'd need to not do any of that in the England job. He also let fitness levels drop to an astoundingly amateurish level. If you worry about Howe then it's a similar issue for Potter.

Poch would be good; empowers good players to play and problem solved. Pressing, yes, but otherwise looks for how he put players in position to affect the game.

Tuchel is, as you say, a tier above as a coach and would be amazing while it lasted. Some players would undoubtedly take against his touchline style and we might see a bit of an unraveling of the great work Southgate did in making playing for England, y'know, fun.

Lampard has become the butt of coaching jokes but is an excellent identifier of talent, keeps things simple tactically and knows what turning up to a broken England dressing room feels like. He also was the first manager to work out Sarriball in England and provide the blueprint for countering it. He'd be better than Potter.

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