Jurgen Klopp’s new job shows why England fans should NOT expect a big name manager to replace Gareth Southgate
JURGEN KLOPP is banking around £9million as Red Bull’s ‘head of global soccer’.
The German’s salary for his cushy new job is half of the £18m of what he was earning at Liverpool – yet it is still nearly double what Gareth Southgate received for managing England.
And this tells you everything you need to know about the current economics of international football.
Klopp’s past and current wages illustrate why it is a pointless exercise playing fantasy manager in terms of who the Football Association should be looking to appoint as the next boss of England.
Lee Carsley, who has been earning about £300,000 a year as manager of the Under-21s, has not exactly enhanced his prospects as manager.
Equally, although the 2-1 defeat to Greece on Thursday was an embarrassment, it would be unwise to take Carsley out of the equation.
If England are still able to win their next three games, including a comfortable win over Greece in Athens to top the group, then – potentially – the job could still be his.
If he wanted it, naturally, and even that is up for debate.
After this six-game Nations League programme is complete, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham will sit down with the organisation’s technical director, John McDermott, who is the man charged with recruiting the next head coach, to discuss the next appointment.
Although the FA want the best man for the job, basic economics come into play.
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When the FA appointed Sven Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, they were able to recruit who they felt were the best coaches in the world at that time.
Yet club football has moved on in terms of cash. Southgate was the top earning coach at Euro 2024 on £5m, with Germany’s Julian Naglesmann close behind on £4m.
England player ratings vs Greece
By Tom Barclay
LEE CARSLEY’S tactical experiment of playing no strikers backfired as Vangelis Pavlidis’ double secured an emotional shock win for Greece at Wembley.
Interim England boss Carsley played all three of our nation’s gifted No10s – Phil Foden, Jue Bellingham and Cole Palmer – in varying positions.
But it did not work and the Greeks took a deserved lead thanks to Pavlidis’ belting second-half finish.
The visitors then held up a shirt in celebration bearing the name Baldock – in reference to their team-mate George Baldock, whose passing at the age of just 31 on Wednesday rocked the world of football.
Bellingham looked to have ensured the points were shared with a thunderous strike with three minutes to go.
But there was still time for Pavlidis to expose some woeful defending deep into injury time by firing past Jordan Pickford.
Here are SunSport’s player ratings from a dire night for England under the arch.
Jordan Pickford: 4
Wandered into no-man’s-land territory outside his box early on and lost the ball, allowing Greek skipper Tasos Baksetas a free shot at goal – only to be saved by Levi Colwill’s last-gasp clearance. Did not instil confidence, despite his experience.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 6
Some tasty passes – they are his speciality, after all – but not great at the back. He, John Stones and Cole Palmer were weak in their attempt to close down Vangelis Pavlidis before the Benfica man smashed home the opener.
John Stones: 5
Made captain for what was his 82nd cap, surpassing Rio Ferdinand’s haul. But it was a shaky display from his defence and Stones should have done better to stop Pavlidis.
Levi Colwill: 7
Greece would have been ahead far sooner were it not for Colwill’s athletic hack away to deny Bakasetas. Replays showed it would have crossed the line had the Chelsea man been a split second later with his incredible intervention.
Rico Lewis: 6
Tried to bomb up the left flank where he could but, just like Kieran Trippier at the Euros, was hamstrung by constantly having to cut back onto his favoured right foot.
Declan Rice: 6
Played as England’s only holding midfielder, as fans had been imploring Gareth Southgate to use him for years. It was not like he was overrun but his side did look vulnerable on the counter.
Phil Foden: 4
Spent most of the game pressing the Greek backline as a false nine without really getting on the ball and causing any damage. Ineffective.
Cole Palmer: 6
Deployed in a deeper, central-midfield role which at least meant he saw plenty of the ball, though he blazed England’s best chance of the first half over the bar. Remarkably, his first competitive England start, despite being named on Tuesday as Three Lions player of the 2023-24 season.
Bukayo Saka: 5
Struggled to get into the game and then was forced out of it, worryingly limping off early in the second half. The last thing Arsenal fans wanted to see.
Jude Bellingham: 7 STAR MAN
Played in a false nine position and had a belting early shot well saved. The system did not work but Bellingham still so nearly emerged as the saviour by banging in his first goal of the season for club and country.
Anthony Gordon: 5
Caused Greece few problems and his touch looked off it. Had a decent chance from Alexander-Arnold’s peach of a delivery but headed over.
SUBS:
Noni Madueke (for Saka 52): Played out on the left, rather than his natural right, when coming on. Went down in the box deep into injury time but no penalty was given. 6
Ollie Watkins (for Gordon 60): Almost scored with his first touch when played through by Palmer, but smashed just over. 7
Dominic Solanke (for Foden 72): Grabbed an assist when laying the ball back to Bellingham who thumped in the leveller. 7
Manager Lee Carsley: 4
Seemed to gamble unnecessarily with this experimental system instead of playing it safe to add another win to boost his case to earn the job full-time. Carsley played without a natural centre-forward when winning the Under-21 Euros because he had to after Flo Balogun switched the USA and Rhian Brewster got injured, but here he did it by choice and it did not work. Bellingham looked to have saved his bacon – but then Pavlidis struck again.
In contrast, even the inexperienced Kieran McKenna earns £5m a season at Ipswich after he signed a new deal due to interest from Manchester United and Chelsea.
The best paid manager in the world is Roberto Mancini who is scooping up £21m a year in Saudi Arabia but the mega-rich state is on a different level to everyone else.
Interestingly, the next 14 best-paid managers in the world are all with club teams.
This includes Pep Guardiola who earns about £20m a year at Manchester City.
The England job does appear to interest him although this is one for the future. Whether the Spaniard would take a monumental pay cut remains to be seen.
The FA is a not-for-profit organisation and they plough all their spare money into the game. This includes a commitment to deliver 4,000 quality pitches and to increase FA Cup prize money for the men’s and women’s game.
Even if the FA decide to back away from Carsley, financial considerations will dictate who they appoint.
Eddie Howe would be a popular choice and he would be interested in the England job.
While the FA could give him an increase from his £4m salary at Newcastle, the north-east club would demand a huge amount in compensation which the FA would be unwilling to pay.
Thomas Tuchel would be keen on taking charge of the Three Lions – with reports in Germany claiming he is ready for talks.
He last earned £8m at Bayern Munich and would take a pay cut but he remains an outsider.
Graham Potter was on £10m at Chelsea but would clearly love to take charge of the national team and money would not be an issue.
So, while some fans might still dream of seeing Guardiola or Klopp lead the team into the next World Cup, they have to get real. It will be either Carsley or Potter.