England have returned home from their woeful World Cup spectacle with their tails between their legs. With many contributing factors to consider in their failed campaign, the FA should concentrate on their manager selection blunder, according to Chelsea legend Ron Harris.
Former Chelsea defender and captain Harris is Chelsea’s all-time highest featured player, having made a staggering 795 appearances for the west London club spanning 19 years.
An avid watcher of the game and now working a football pundit and public speaker, Harris gives his forthright opinion on England’s overall performance in Brazil this World Cup.
“England have been abysmal” he tells Football Express News, “for years we’ve kept on saying how much potential they have, but they never produce anything.”
Harris says the burning issue to be addressed first and foremost is the manager’s position, pointing out how all successful sides in football, whether at national level or club level, have big-time winning managers behind them.
“The biggest problem is, England don’t have a manager with major winning experience” he explains, “if you look at the successful sides in football you just have to look at who’s in charge. (Luiz Felipe) Scolari of Brazil, he’s a World Cup winner. Carlo Ancelotti, he’s just won the Champions League with Real Madrid, he’s a big winner. Jose Mourinho, every single place he’s been, he’s won major tournaments.”
The former Chelsea man is of the view that England were doomed from the start because they opted to appoint Roy Hodgson, who he says may fit the bill in terms of his personal attributes, but nonetheless is not a major tournament winner.
“I like Roy Hodgson and he fits the bill for the FA, he comes over a nice person, he speaks well, but has he has never won anything significant.
“I don’t understand why England appoint a manager who’s only ever had success with smaller clubs and the first big club he got, which was Liverpool, he was only there five minutes and didn’t win anything.”
Transforming the England side would be a mammouth task for any top gaffer, but according to Harris, one who would be more than capable of shaking them up and turning them into a team of winners is Chelsea hero-coach, Jose Mourinho.
“One fella who would transform England would be Jose Mourinho, if he was ever to leave Chelsea,” he says.
“Just look at his record, England, Portugal, Spain, Italy, he is a prolific winner, he knows how to win major tournaments everywhere he goes.”