Hey, football fans! Today I want to talk about a hot topic in the world of soccer: who should be the next manager of the England national team? As you may know, Gareth Southgate announced his resignation after the disappointing performance at the 2022 World Cup, where England failed to advance past the group stage. Since then, there has been a lot of speculation and debate about who should take over the helm of the Three Lions. One name that has been frequently mentioned is Brendan Rodgers, the current manager of Leicester City. But is he the right man for the job? Let’s take a look at his life and career, and weigh his merits or otherwise of becoming the next England boss.
Brendan Rodgers was born in Northern Ireland in 1973. He grew up in a Catholic family and played football from an early age. He joined Ballymena United as a teenager and later moved to Reading, where he played as a defender. However, his playing career was cut short by a genetic knee condition that forced him to retire at the age of 20. He then turned his attention to coaching, and worked as a youth coach at Reading for several years. He also studied Spanish and travelled to Spain to learn from some of the best coaches in Europe, such as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.
In 2008, he got his first managerial job at Watford, where he impressed with his attractive and attacking style of play. He then moved to Reading in 2009, but was sacked after six months due to poor results. He bounced back in 2010, when he took over Swansea City and led them to promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history. He also made history by becoming the first manager to win a play-off final at Wembley with a non-English team. He stayed at Swansea for two more seasons, establishing them as a solid mid-table team in the top flight.
In 2012, he was appointed as the manager of Liverpool, one of the biggest clubs in England and Europe. He inherited a team that had finished eighth in the previous season, and set out to rebuild it with his philosophy of possession-based and high-pressing football. He also gave opportunities to young players such as Raheem Sterling, Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge. In his first season, he led Liverpool to seventh place, but in his second season, he almost achieved the unthinkable: winning the Premier League title. Liverpool were top of the table with three games to go, but a slip by captain Steven Gerrard against Chelsea and a collapse against Crystal Palace cost them dearly. They finished second behind Manchester City, but still earned praise for their exhilarating and entertaining football.
However, Rodgers could not replicate that success in his third season at Liverpool. The departure of star striker Luis Suarez to Barcelona and the injury problems of Sturridge left him with a lack of firepower up front. He also struggled to integrate new signings such as Mario Balotelli, Dejan Lovren and Lazar Markovic into his system. Liverpool finished sixth in the league and failed to qualify for the Champions League. They also lost two cup semi-finals to Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively. Rodgers was under pressure from the fans and the media, who questioned his tactics and his transfer dealings.
He started his fourth season at Liverpool with some optimism, after signing players such as Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino and James Milner. However, he could not turn things around and Liverpool continued to perform inconsistently. He was sacked in October 2015 after a 1-1 draw with Everton in the Merseyside derby. He left Liverpool with a record of 85 wins, 39 draws and 41 losses in 166 games.
After taking a break from football for almost a year, Rodgers returned to management in 2016 when he joined Celtic, the Scottish champions. He quickly restored Celtic’s dominance in Scotland, winning an unprecedented treble of domestic trophies in his first season. He also guided Celtic to their first Champions League group stage appearance since 2013-14. He repeated the feat of winning another treble in his second season, becoming the first manager in Scottish history to do so twice in a row. He also broke several records with Celtic, such as going unbeaten for 69 domestic games and winning 63 consecutive domestic cup games.
In February 2019, Rodgers left Celtic mid-season to join Leicester City in the Premier League. He cited the challenge of working in one of the most competitive leagues in the world as his motivation for leaving Celtic. He inherited a Leicester team that was 12th in the table and had just sacked Claude Puel. He quickly improved Leicester’s form and style of play, leading them to ninth