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Leicester City manager Steve Cooper believes that British coaching must “continue to improve” after Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as the third foreign manager of England’s senior men’s side.
German Tuchel was unveiled this week as Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor, with the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss taking up his role at the start of next year.
His installation has been criticised by some who feel that an English coach should always be favoured for the post, despite Tuchel’s impressive credentials.
Welshman Cooper, who began his coaching journey with England’s youth sides and has since had stints at Swansea and Nottingham Forest, believes that homegrown managers must ensure they make the most of opportunities on offer before they criticise the Football Association (FA) for looking elsewhere.
“Hopefully over the course of time British coaching will continue to improve and we will be right up there with the world’s best,” said Cooper, who led England to victory at the Under-17 World Cup in 2017.
“In the meantime any opportunity we are given we have to take them and do a good job. Until we do that on a regular basis maybe we shouldn’t say so much. I really believe in British culture, I believe in the coaching education pathway as well.”
Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the FA, suggested after the announcement of Tuchel that English coaches were among a group of about ten interviewed for the vacancy.
Among those connected with the role were Eddie Howe, who guided Newcastle back into the Champions League, and Graham Potter, out-of-work after a difficult stint at Chelsea.
The last English manager to win the top league in England was Howard Wilkinson in 1992, while no British coach has lifted the Premier League since Alex Ferguson in 2013. Bullingham admits that the lack of top-level candidates is a concern.
“I think any federation in the world that is looking to hire a senior manager, clearly you would love to have five to 10 domestic candidates who are coaching clubs in your domestic league, challenging and winning honours in your domestic league and European football,” said Bullingham. “We are not quite in that place at the moment.”
