Redknapp: England shouldn't hire Guardiola; they mustn't become the second Italy.

Harry Redknapp has warned the FA against pursuing Pep Guardiola. The former West Ham and Tottenham manager said Thomas Tuchel needs full support, while England's youth academy is quietly crumbling.

After Guardiola rejected the position of manager of the Italian national team, Redknapp insisted that Wembley should stay away from the former Manchester City manager.

Redknapp said: "Many people seem to think that Guardiola is a magic wand in the world of football. Without a doubt, he is an absolute tactical genius."

"But you can't just 'transfer' Guardiola directly to the England team and expect him to bring in a championship immediately."

“At the club level, Guardiola always has huge sums of money to spend. If he needs a full-back who can push forward into midfield, he will buy a £70 million player.”

"In international football, there are no checkbooks or transfer windows. All you can get are players developed in your own country, nothing more."

Redknapp also expressed deep concern about the future of England's talent pipeline, worrying that there aren't enough promising young players.

He said, "Italy is a real warning to us. It's unbelievable, even criminal, for a football powerhouse to fail to qualify for the World Cup for two consecutive tournaments."

"But if we're not careful, we might fall asleep and walk into the same disaster ourselves."

"The pipeline for developing young Italian players has dried up, and that's starting to happen here."

Redknapp, who witnessed one of the most productive youth development eras in modern English football, believes that Premier League clubs are significantly weakening their homegrown talent pool.

He said: "When I was at West Ham, the club's supply line was very smooth - Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Glen Johnson, Jermaine Deford."

“Those players who rushed into the first team were imbued with the club culture and knew the traditions here. They later played for the Three Lions.”

"It breaks my heart because half of these youth academy kids don't even have the chance to watch the first team train. They're kept behind high fences, far from the home stadium."

"At West Ham, we would have the lads sweep the stands and stay after training to play against the wall and observe how the first-team veterans play."

"Everything is now 'sterilized'. If the kids are isolated from real first-team football, you can't get them to develop toughness."

In an effort to resolve the crisis, Redknapp called for strict policy changes within the Premier League, requiring clubs to field homegrown players instead of buying foreign players to complete their squads.

Redknapp said: "There should be regulations requiring Premier League clubs to field a certain number of English players. This is how we protect our future."

“Now, top teams are just buying ready-made players from abroad, while our homegrown young talents are being blocked at every turn.”

Redknapp continued his traditional views on national team management, believing that national teams should only hire coaches from their own country.

He said: "Ideally, the England national team should be led by an England coach."

"The Spanish national team coach is Spanish. The French national team coach is French. The Argentinian national team coach is Argentinian; he used to play for West Ham!"

“We also have great coaches like Eddie Howe who understand our culture.”

"There are also former top players like Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, who have already gained experience in coaching positions."

"But it is clear that English managers usually only have a chance to get a Premier League job after being promoted from the Championship."

"If we don't trust our coaches and don't support them, what message are we sending to the next generation?"

Redknapp urged the nation to support current manager Tuchel while working to repair the long-standing system.

The former head coach said, "Don't get me wrong, we do have a very good squad right now and are fully capable of winning a major championship."

"So, let's not chase after Guardiola for now. Let's fully support Tuchel in completing the next task."

"Before we become like the Italians, lounging on our sofas at home watching the World Cup, let's solve the youth training problem first."