Jamie Carragher has not backed down from his stance that the England job should be held by an English manager following the appointment of Thomas Tuchel. But he has reacted positively to another appointment to the national setup .
Prior to the news that Tuchel could be in the running, Carragher made it clear that he believes top footballing nations should always be looking to appoint from within . Despite the impressive track record of the former Chelsea , PSG and Bayern Munich boss, he has not changed his mind.
The former Liverpool defender has insisted that it " doesn't feel right " to have an overseas coach in an arena where it is meant to be the best of one country against the best of another. He feels that should extend to managers.
Speaking on the It's Called Soccer podcast , Carragher even branded it "embarassing" that England has felt the need to turn to Tuchel rather than an English coach in order to try and have success. He has also echoed Gary Neville's thoughts that it somewhat undermines the investment that has gone into St George's Park and developing a pathway for domestic managers.
However, Carragher did offer an "applause" emoji to an England appointment that some might have missed. He lent his support to the arrival of Anthony Barry as the new assistant head coach.
Cynics would say that Barry's arrival is a ploy to placate those of Carragher's persausion, who will always be skeptical of international managers for the national post. But the 38-year-old, who was born in Liverpool, has a relationship with Tuchel that goes back some way.
They met at Chelsea, where Barry had already been on board as part of Frank Lampard's staff. Prior to that, he had been an assistant coach at Wigan Athletic for three years, during the period that Carragher's son James was coming through the youth system.
Tuchel retained Barry, before hiring him again when he joined Bayern Munich in April 2023. The England job will be their third link-up.
As a player, Barry began his career in the Everton youth system. He went on to have a journeyman existence in the Football League and just below it, before retiring at 31 and embarking on his coaching career.
Liverpool.com says: To be fair, there is a case to be made that international football should require domestic coaches as a matter of principle. But as a matter of performance, appointing Tuchel seems like a very smart move from the FA.
In theory, there absolutely should be some more viable English candidates. But the simple fact is that there is currently nobody of Tuchel's standing, and it should not be the function of such a high-profile role to give an inexperienced candidate a chance when the rules permit outside appointments.
To the extent that any of the concerns about foreign coaches are valid, hopefully Barry will be able to bridge that gap. Ironically enough, his previous roles include stints with Belgium, Portugal and the Republic of Ireland.
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