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24th January 2024
04:11pm GMT
Darren Bent believes that England would be far more successful if they replaced Gareth Southgate with Jose Mourinho.
Southgate is preparing to lead the Three Lions into their fourth major tournament under his guidance as they finally look to break their duck and win a first trophy since 1966.
In the delayed 2020 European Championships, England made it all the way to the final only to lose on penalties to Italy and exited the 2022 World Cup in the quarter finals to France.
Many are expecting this summer's tournament in Germany to be his last and with Mourinho now available following his recent sacking at Roma, Bent believes now is the perfect time to appoint the former Chelsea boss and allow him to break England's 58-year wait for silverware.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, he said: "Mourinho isn’t a project manager. He is someone who needs readymade players.
"The England job for him would be perfect, we’ve got this talented crop of young players and the way that they play… he’s one of those managers where you think 'right we’ve got the Euros and World Cup coming up, Jose - a quick fix, he’ll win it.;
"What happens after that, it usually ends badly. But he’s a quick fix, he can get you success.
"Going into a competition, who gives you more chance of winning, Jose or Gareth [Southgate]? I know the football’s not great, but…"
Mourinho has been linked with the England job before and even revealed once that he was close to being appointed in 2007 following Steve McClaren's sacking, but his wife convinced him not to do so.
England went with Fabio Capello instead while Mourinho would go on to take charge of Inter Milan, where he would win the Champions League and Serie A before moving on to Real Madrid.
When you think of knockout tournaments, there's not many better at winning them than Mourinho. After all, he's the only manager to have won all three major European trophies.
International football is a completely different ball game to domestic football too. It's short-term, it requires solidity and a side that is impossible to break down, but is also capable of nicking a goal to win the game.
That is exactly what Mourinho would do. Any time your side comes up against one of his teams in a knockout game, it's painful to watch on as you know he'll deliver.
Like Darren Bent said, he is not the long-term answer but England are past the period of little-to-no expectations. Now. they have to win. Anything else should be seen as unacceptable.
Southgate will travel to Germany with the best pool of players at his disposal for a long time and come the 2026 World Cup, there will be even more in contention to play.
Football fans will always say they care how they play but realistically, nobody does if they're winning trophies. Give Mourinho that England role and the Three Lions would never have a better chance of ending their wait.
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