Gareth Southgate leads England into their World Cup qualifier against Malta on Saturday as interim manager but former Three Lions striker Robbie Fowler believes Arsene Wenger should be the one to eventually succeed Sam Allardyce.
Speaking at the opening of Liverpool’s new store at Al Wahda mall in Abu Dhabi last week, Fowler said the Arsenal manager would be his first choice for England manager.
“My initial choice is Arsene Wenger. I think he’s a proven manager who brings out the very best in players. He’s been in England for a long time. His record of getting Arsenal in the Champions League is nothing short of phenomenal. He would be my choice,” the former Liverpool star told Sport360.
Despite being criticised for the lack of silverware at Arsenal, Fowler is adamant that the Frenchman would be the ideal man for the job, citing his consistency to deliver Champions League football as a key factor.
“I think he’d be suited to be England manager. They haven’t won the league for a number of years but they consistently finish in the top four and that’s an incredible achievement.”
Another Premier League manager Fowler has been impressed by is the one leading his beloved Liverpool. The former Red has been delighted with the team’s form of late and credits Jurgen Klopp for galvanising the players.
“They’re a joy to to watch at the minute. They’re exciting, everyone’s scoring goals. They’ve had some great results. But I don’t think anyone associated with the club will be getting carried away. We all know there’s a long way to go but it’s exciting times,” he said.
Liverpool have had a number of goal scorers already this season and while acknowledging that fact, Fowler has his hopes pinned on one of the summer signings to take the team to the next level.
“Klopp’s bringing out the very best of the players. They’ve all chipped in with goals. [Philippe] Coutinho’s played well, [Daniel] Sturridge, when he’s played, has been a handful. The standout performer has been [Sadio] Mane. Hopefully, he’ll be the man to take us further up in the league,” added Fowler, who scored 183 goals in 369 games for the Anfield club across his two spells.
Liverpool has secured a Champions League berth just once in the last seven seasons but Fowler is confident that they will achieve that target this time around.
“Liverpool should always have ambitions to finish as high up in the table as possible. We always want to finish in the Champions League places,”said Fowler.
“It hasn’t really happened a few times in the past years for various reasons but I certainly think with the players we’ve got and the manager, we can do it. I’m confident that Liverpool will finish in the top four, anything beyond that would be a massive bonus.”
As far as the race for the Premier League title goes, Fowler believes Manchester City remain firm favourites and the team to beat.
“Manchester City have been the strongest. [Pep] Guardiola is a fantastic manager. But you look at Chelsea under [Antonio] Conte and they’ll be difficult to beat when they settle down,” the 41-year-old said.
“Manchester United have had a little bit of a blip in the last few games but under [Jose] Mourinho, he’ll get them playing well. If anyone finishes above City, they’ll probably win the league.”