Jack Wilshere has backed Eddie Howe as someone who could get the best out of England’s talented squad.
The Three Lions are looking for a new head coach following Gareth Southgate’s decision to resign from his post.
The decision was made two days after England were beaten 2-1 by Spain in the Euro 2024 final – a result that meant the nation’s 58-year wait for a major trophy will continue.
Several names have emerged as serious contenders for the now-vacant post with Graham Potter, Lee Carsley and Gary O’Neil understood to be admired by the FA.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is also is contention and talkSPORT understands that he’d consider the post.
While the FA run the rule over their candidates, fans will be drawing conclusions on the contenders as they look for someone who can improve on Southgate’s showing in the post.
One man who knows exactly what Howe has to offer is Jack Wilshere who spent the 2016/17 season on loan with Bournemouth under the now-Newcastle boss.
Speaking on talkSPORT Drive, Wilshere said: “Eddie is very good tactically and I don’t think he gets a lot of credit for that.
“When I first went to Bournemouth the first thing I noticed was a notable change in the intensity every day.
“You hear about sports science coming into the game and managing things, well Eddie Howe has a great way of demanding from players and getting the best out of them every day.
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“Obviously he wouldn’t see them every day at international level so that would be different, but tactically he’s good enough. As a man manager and someone who can get the best out of players he’s a good person to have.”
Wilshere added: “It’s about earning the players’ trust. I’ve learned that since going into coaching that if you want to get the best out of someone then you need to understand what makes them tick, what drives them, how to push them and that only comes when you get to know them as a person and you build a trust with them.
“I think that Eddie can do that. He did it with me really quickly and he was a manager who I’d run through a brick wall and yeah, he’s got that.”
Replacing Southgate is not going to be easy given the way that he has transformed the culture at St George’s Park for the better.
Unlike previously, England’s stars love reporting for international duty and enjoy close relationships with their teammates – regardless of club allegiance – leading to better results both on and off the pitch.
Reflecting on Southgate’s reign, Wilshere said: “The things that Gareth has done in terms of the environment – it wasn’t that long ago that people were asking if people actually wanted to go and play for England.
“What Gareth has done is created that environment. You can see it – Trent (Alexander-Arnold) is best friends with Phil Foden and that’s Man City v Liverpool so to create that environment and culture, we have to keep that and the things they do away from football have to be there.
“But now we need someone who can take the team to another level because we’re there – we’re in finals, we’ve got good players and we just need a bit of help to get over the line.”
Asked who he would like to replace Southgate: “I’m not sure because they all bring their own strengths. It’s important to recognise that Spain, who were the best team in the tournament, no one would know who their manager was before the start of tournament.
“I hear people saying about not having a foreign coach but if the foreign coach is going to be the best and bring the best ideas to help the team, I don’t see an issue with it.”
