By Richard Clarke
Arsène Wenger believes there are "plenty" of
English candidates who are good enough to manage the national team.
The Arsenal boss met with FA chief Brian Barwick on Thursday to
offer his advice on the right person to succeed Steve McClaren.
Despite the lack of indigenous success in the Premier League,
Wenger is well-known to favour an Englishman and the Frenchman
believes there are numerous possibilities - including Gareth
Southgate, his opposite number on Sunday
"You have plenty," he said at Friday's press
conference. "You have Redknapp, Curbishley, Coppell,
Southgate, Pearce, Allardyce - they are all good enough."
Tellingly, the Arsenal manager was quick to draw a distinction
between management at club and national level.
"They are different jobs," he said. "In the club,
it's a guy who needs football experience, who needs to make
decisions on who to buy, when to buy, when to sell, to build the
team and have a vision of how you want to play.
"In a country, it is different. You do not have all these
problems. You just take the players available. There are no big
choices or big decisions to make.
"I feel you do not rate [these managers] enough. Give them
a chance."
