Mauricio Pochettino Next England Manager Odds: Could the Argentine be Southgate’s successor?

We have now reached the end of a pivotal week for England. It’s been less than seven days since the Three Lions lost the Euro 2024 final to Spain, and in the fallout, manager Gareth Southgate resigned from his role after four tournaments in charge. It’s been England’s most successful period, but now the search for his successor is well and truly on. 

 We have taken a detailed look at the top five in the betting, and assessed their chances of being selected to be the next England manager by the FA. In the final part of this five-part series, we conclude by taking a look at former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino.

It would be a decision that would have Margaret Thatcher rolling in her grave, but an Argentine managing the England national team is now a distinct possibility. On the football pitch, this rivalry has seen some of the most iconic moments in world football, with David Beckham’s red card in 1998 coming 12 years after Diego Maradona’s Hand of God in Mexico. 

However, it’s now been 22 years since the two nations last met at a major tournament, when Beckham exacted his revenge with a famous penalty. The man who fouled Michael Owen for that penalty in 2002? Mr Pochettino, who is now a contender to replace Southgate as England manager.

Next England Manager Odds

Although an English manager is the preferred choice of the FA, the lack of elite coaches from this country is still an issue, so perhaps looking abroad will garner the best results. Added to this, international rivalry isn’t as fierce as it used to be, and Pochettino has already become a popular figure with the English media due to his work at Tottenham Hotspur. 

He was also living in London as recently as May, having been sacked by Chelsea at the end of the season. That was an incredibly harsh decision on paper as he had led them to a sixth-place finish, which was miraculous given the state of the club he walked into. It seemed he was finally getting a tune out of the young players, and the scattergun transfer approach was calming down under his tenure. 

Then Todd Boehly struck again, replacing Pochettino with Enzo Maresca. It remains to be seen how that decision pans out for Chelsea, but in truth, it’s going to be tough for the former Leicester City manager to outperform Poch. He has proven himself to be one of the elite managers in world football over the past decade, with his work at Spurs arguably his most impressive spell. 

He took Tottenham Hotspur to a Champions League final. I’ll repeat that. Tottenham Hotspur - Champions League final. Those two things are simply not seen together, but Poch managed to get them there in dramatic fashion. He also got the best out of Dele Alli and Harry Kane, and given the latter is still England’s captain, that could hold some weight in the conversations the FA have. He also was in charge for Cole Palmer’s breakout season at Chelsea, and given how he performed this summer, getting the best out of him will be high on the new manager’s priority list. 

He is also a proven developer of young talent, and that is something England must focus on with the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Adam Wharton and Marc Guehi now key members of the first team squad. Pochettino makes a lot of sense and ticks a lot of boxes in my eyes. However, he has never managed an international team and would arguably demand a big wage given his last two roles have been at PSG and Chelsea. 

Although he prioritises youth and his playing style is attractive, there will be some doubts for the FA. Is he too different to Southgate? They have already stated their desire to put somebody in place who can continue the former manager’s progress and build upon it, rather than to start from scratch. 

Lee Carsley Next England Manager Odds

Pochettino isn’t as divisive or hostile as somebody like Jose Mourinho, but he would still want to make changes to the England set-up. I actually think he is the prime foreign candidate for the job, and way ahead of the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. Klopp doesn’t strike me as an England manager and is in desperate need of a break, while Guardiola still has a year left on his Manchester City contract. 

Pochettino is available, elite and has a habit of getting the best out of young players. If England and the FA do decide to open the door to foreign coaches, I think it has to be Poch. 10/1 seems like great value for a man who will surely be throwing his hat into the ring.  

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