Lampard wants fresh FA approach in hunt for England manager

Former England midfielder Frank Lampard says England need a “younger, forward-thinking” manager and has urged the Football Association (FA) to take a fresh approach to the recruitment process.

England crashed out of Euro 2016 at the hands of minnows Iceland in the round of 16 on Monday, losing 2-1 in a match that prompted Roy Hodgson to quit as coach of the national team.

And Lampard, who won 106 caps for his country, believes the FA must now take a new direction.

“Look at the top managers in the world now – [Jose] Mourinho, [Jurgen] Klopp, [Pep] Guardiola, [Antonio] Conte. There’s something about the team spirit and I’m not sure we’re seeing that with England,” he told BBC Sport.

“Over the last 10 or 15 years, when I was playing, we weren’t setting a new tone. I would look for a younger, forward-thinking manager who has a really strong idea about how he wants to play, play good football, generate a good spirit in the team and go that way.

“I can’t give you the name, that’s the problem. The name isn’t jumping out.

“People can criticise the FA over the years for being a bit stuck in their ways. I think they have to look at themselves, open out and look for this manager, to give them a chance to try something different because the tried and trusted isn’t quite working.”

Lampard also believes England were unsettled when the prospect of elimination set in.

“The magnifying glass will be even more on everything because it was a team we were expected to beat,” he added.

“It was a bad performance, without a doubt, and when you get to knockout football at the top level, bad performances send you home.

“I think technically, man for man, our squad would have held up against a lot of the good teams in this tournament, so there must be something lacking.

“Whether it’s something in the mindset, a bit of fearfulness – I sensed an edginess in the players where they were starting to think ‘hang on, we might be getting knocked out by Iceland here’.

 “It made it difficult, I think, for the players to perform when you have that fear factor.”

United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann is the current favourite for the England job, with Glenn Hoddle and Sam Allardyce also among the frontrunners with the bookmakers.