When England met Greece in the Nations League last Thursday, they were the odd team out in the contest that had never won a European Championship before. The Three Lions have lost the last two finals, yet that is the closest they have come to continental glory in the men's game.
That famous '30 years of hurt' phrase will have rolled over to 60 by the time the next World Cup comes around - we'll be as far away from Euro 1996 as the release of that Lightning Seeds song from the 1966 World Cup. Sorry for making you feel old and potentially thrusting you into existential crisis, but this is a time for home truths.
England have a managerial vacancy, and a leading candidate for the job is Pep Guardiola, whose Manchester City contract expires at the end of the season. He's left a trail of success wherever he's been, and that extends to the countries he's managed in.
Some pundits, such as Roy Keane, have warned the FA they need to "go for the best", which is inarguably the charismatic Catalan. There is a notion that England are at a slight disadvantage in trying to woo Guardiola, yet that isn't the case at all - if anything, he needs such a job more than they need him.
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