‘If Guardiola was England manager’ – Foster tips Brighton man to thrive and Three Lions to ‘win tournaments’
Ben Foster believes England would “win tournaments” with Pep Guardiola at the helm, and the Manchester City boss “could pick” Jason Steele in net, who Foster feels is “outrageous”.
Gareth Southgate’s tenure as Three Lions boss has been a joy to behold for the most part. He’s led his side to wins in the majority of games, reached a World Cup semi-final and a Euro final.
The main criticism would be that his side has not managed to get over the line after doing most of the hard work.
There are reports that his tenure is to end after the 2024 Euros – England are favourites – and City boss Guardiola is reportedly ‘the dream appointment’ of some at the FA.
Former England goalkeeper Foster believes that tournament triumph would finally come under his watch.
“I think if we had Pep Guardiola as England manager, we would win tournaments,” he said on his podcast.
He also believes that the manager would pick a goalkeeper not usually in the squad, such as Brighton man Steele.
“He could pick anybody. I think he would pick Steele at Brighton. Or [James] Trafford at Burnley. Genuinely,” Foster said.
Foster then heaped praise onto Steele for his style of play, which he feels would be well suited to a Guardiola side.
“He would completely change it,” Foster added.
“Have you seen the way Steele does it for Brighton by the way? It is outrageous.
“It would be completely changed because that’s the way he wants to play. That’s the style of play that he wants to go with. That’s interesting, isn’t it? That is a can of worms.”
Indeed, in terms of Premier League goalkeeper’s launch percentage this season (the amount of times the ball is kicked long) Steele’s is 8.3 per cent, the only tally lower is his understudy Bart Verbruggen’s – 0 per cent.
That Steele was better playing out from the back is why the Seagulls picked him ahead of Robert Sanchez last season, and discarded the Spaniard at the end of the campaign.
As such, Steele’s ability to use his feet might well put him in a decent position if Guardiola does ascend to the England job. Whether or not either of those things happen remain to be seen, but the Brighton man certainly stands out in that respect.
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