England must SACK Thomas Tuchel if Pep Guardiola wants job – if he goes to Italy it will be the biggest miss of all time

IT WOULD be easy for the FA to do nothing. But if they do and see Pep Guardiola taking up the Italy offer being plotted by Paolo Maldini, they will regret it forever. The FA must see if Pep Guardiola is interested in taking the England job Credit: PA Italy are trying to tempt the former Manchester City boss back into the dugout Credit: Getty You can see the logic for sticking with Thomas Tuchel. After all, third was England’s best World Cup performance since 1966. It was the most successful of all time outside home soil. England played, in the main, with a smile. And they ended with the broadest of grins – Miami, nice. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! Tuchel, too, bristling at the stick he got for the semi-final surrender against Argentina, seemed to have rediscovered his mojo under the Florida sun while his players led the tributes to the spirit he has fostered. But if the Wembley top brass had the courage of the convictions they claim, that the aim is to WIN Euros and World Cups, they should not settle for second best. Guardiola – the world’s best manager, the man who reinvented football and fell in love with England – is available. And that is a call a brave FA would make, today. Forget the cost of paying up Tuchel’s new two-year contract. The FA have just banked £31million from the Fifa prize pot. They are not short of a few bob. OK, if Guardiola isn’t up for it – despite soundings to the contrary – then stick with your king of clubs and seven of hearts. Most read in Sport SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS Guardiola would be an upgrade on Thomas Tuchel Credit: Getty But if he is, you have to twist. Back Pep to be the four of diamonds to take you to 21. You can offer far more – in terms of players and readies, than a desperate Italian FA. Tuchel is not a bad manager. He is a good manager. That’s crystal clear. Yet “good” isn’t enough when you can get the pre-eminent coach and tactician of his generation. Let’s be honest, even with Guardiola in the dugout in Atlanta, England might have lost to Argentina. But there is no way on earth they would have lost like THAT. Surrendering the initiative, giving up the pitch, losing everything that had put them within touching distance of glory, inviting the inevitable. While Pep looked washed out and ready for a long break at the end of last season, that won’t have lasted too long. You can imagine him looking at all the signings made by Premier League clubs so far and wondering how they will work at Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and his old club Manchester City – and how he would counteract them. Even during his 12-month “sabbatical” in New York after leaving Barcelona, he was plotting and planning. His fingers will be twitching already, his brain hot-wired. Which is why he has been willing to meet with Italy. Guardiola would have better players to work with if he bags the England gig Credit: Getty Tuchel penned a new two-year deal before the World Cup Credit: Getty It may be that Guardiola wants an extended break. So if he fancies it from March, instead, OK. We know Lee Carsley is a more than adequate caretaker. But England do not play a match of any real significance until June 2028. Nobody is going to really care about the Nations League and even if they completely messed up qualification – which isn’t going to happen – they would still get through via Uefa’s back-door route for the hosts. Indeed, even if there is no reaching out to Pep and Tuchel stays in charge, the situation could change by Christmas. Atlanta has altered, negatively, the German’s relationship with the England fans. The feel-good factor is no more. It means poor Wembley performances against Spain and then the Czech Republic in the autumn and it won’t just be paper aeroplanes flying around under the Arch. There will be vitriol and animosity filling the air too. Enough, perhaps, to make Tuchel also consider how much he wants to go through that for another 18 months – especially if a major club job becomes available. Should, for example, it not work out for Michael Carrick at Old Trafford. Guardiola left Manchester City at the end of last season Credit: Getty England notched their best World Cup finish since 1966 Credit: Reuters Loyalty is a laudable thing in football with knee-jerk decision-making something to avoid. But Guardiola has always been the FA’s No 1 target. The man they wanted.Chief executive Mark Bullingham needs to pick up the phone and quickly. Because if he is wearing Azzurri blue, not white, in the next few months, it will be the biggest miss of all time. GOING SOUTH THE fallout of Atlanta will not have been lost on Thomas Tuchel’s predecessor and his assistant. Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland’s achievements of two finals, a semi and last-eight spot at major tournaments were forgotten in the FA’s scramble to endorse the German as the missing ingredient. Then it turns out Tuchel deliberately chose to amplify and repeat everything the previous regime was accused of getting wrong. It puts things in perspective, don’t you think? Gareth Southgate had a good record in major tournaments Credit: Getty But he left the Three Lions job after coming under fire Credit: Getty GUNNER HURT CHELSEA stealing Morgan Rogers from Arsenal’s grasp was a proper Premier League hijack. Mikel Arteta will have every right to be hacked off, too. The Gunners manager must have assumed the move for the Aston Villa man was virtually a done deal. But those fans at the Emirates who are moaning might remember how gleeful they were when they did the same thing to Spurs over Eberechi Eze last summer. What goes around, comes around. Morgan Rogers is on his way to Chelsea Credit: Getty The transfer will be a huge blow for Arsenal chief Mikel Arteta Credit: Getty KEELY’S TOPS BUT KERR WAS EPIC KEELY HODGKINSON deserves her status as Britain’s favourite track-and-field star. But watching Josh Kerr demolish the mile world record on Saturday at the packed-out London Stadium was truly captivating. It might even get some eyeballs on the Commonwealth Games when they start in Glasgow on Thursday. Comment now