Waiting for Arsene Wenger in the hope he might be the man with a secret plan to save the England team is a flawed policy.
Wenger has been wonderful for Arsenal and the notion that one of the game’s philosophers might enlighten English football and lead it out of another self-made mess may have a certain appeal.
But it does not offset the fact that appointing another foreigner sends the wrong message.
What does it say if the biggest job is occupied by one of the first Premier League managers to freeze out English footballers and pack his team with signings from overseas?
The FA figurehead must inspire the next generation of homegrown managers so that one day we are not faced with such a dearth of plausible options.
Premier League clubs do little to help English coaching, so the FA must lead. Especially after investing in St George’s Park as the centre for coaching education and launching the England DNA initiative, which is at least rooted in good sense.
Consider Gareth Southgate — a good man and a committed coach.
Consider others if he doesn’t want it. Talk to Eddie Howe, Sean Dyche, Alan Pardew and Steve Bruce again. Preferably while trying to avoid more tumbling skeletons.
Consider former international players without coaching experience such as Rio Ferdinand or Jamie Carragher. If there is an unquenchable thirst for glamour at the FA then build an experienced coaching team around them.
No other serious football nation is obsessed with image quite like England. Germany, France, Spain and Italy are not driven by it.
Spain are led by Julen Lopetegui and Italy by Giampiero Ventura. Why should England expect someone of global stature?
Wenger has been in England for 20 years. He understands our football. We can overlook his nationality and adopt him without feeling hypocritical but the theory that the manager has a magic wand in international football is shot.
Fabio Capello did a decent job but proved it is mostly about the quality of players. When he left in a huff, having not been allowed to pick the best centre back or choose his own captain, he left no legacy. We employed one of the great coaches at great expense and yet English football and young English coaches inherited none of his knowledge.
Wenger is a one-man show. He runs Arsenal and his assistant Steve Bould has discovered the manager was not particularly keen to listen to alternative opinions.
Wenger is in charge. He is not one of football’s sharers. Few of his former players have been embraced, invited into the inner circle and offered genuine insight or helped into a coaching career.
As an obsessive, he will be lost at international level, unable to immerse himself in daily football. It is a very different job and one where his innovative spirit will be crushed by the frustrations of working at the FA, bound by protocol and powerless against the might of the Premier League clubs, as he knows.
Tactical acumen — planning for opponents, solving problems quickly under pressure — is perhaps the single most important factor for an international manager.
This is not Wenger’s style. He is laissez-faire. He likes gifted players he can trust and he sends them out to express themselves.
It can make beautiful football but he spends little time stopping the opposition. In this sense he is the anti-Sam but that does not make it right simply because the Allardyce appointment went wrong. Wenger does not think English players are good enough. He has tried hard to involve them over the years and there are limited successes, such as Theo Walcott.
But in 20 years he has made it clear that he considers foreign footballers to be superior. Perhaps he is right, but it is not a sound basis to be the England boss.
Nor will Wenger appreciate an explosion of interest in his private life. The one time he hit the front pages for non-football reasons, regarding an alleged affair, he was appalled and distressed. Does he really need that hassle?
Then there’s Arsenal, his life’s work.
He will be offered an extension to the contract set to expire at the end of the season and England’s interest may even put a few quid on it.
Unless something goes very wrong and unless he has his eye on an honorary knighthood, he will sign it.
If he really believes his time on the Arsenal bench is over there will be a long line of clubs interested in his services, not to mention the offer of a job upstairs at the Emirates in a role of his choosing.
All offering to pay him much more than the FA can afford.
Wenger for England feels wrong. Waiting for Wenger and feasting on his crumbs of encouragement feels worse.
Daily Mail