King in waiting: Brendan Rodgers has proved you can create a team which plays attarctive, passing football without relying on world-class talents

In the Tottenham technical area is England’s short-term answer: Harry Redknapp, the man to coax confidence and adventure out of a jaded national team. In the Swansea City dug-out is the long-term future of the game on these isles: Brendan Rodgers, the man who wants to teach the British to play.

This summer is the most important in the history of the England team — not because there will be a new manager and a major tournament but because St George’s Park will open in Burton. It should herald a change in the way English football is coached and played: a coherent approach that works across all age groups. And Redknapp is convinced that Rodgers is the man to help provoke this cultural shift.

“I think he’d be fantastic,” Redknapp said of getting Rodgers involved at Burton. “To start the kids playing like that from a young age, all the way through – without a doubt, that’s what’s needed. You can’t have the England team playing one way and the Under 18s playing another way. No one plays like he plays so I think it would be fantastic.” The Football Association are seeking to appoint a technical director to work at Burton and while Rodgers would be a far-sighted appointment, he has ambitions as a club manager. He is surely more valuable making his point on a Premier League pitch every weekend, setting an example for other young coaches to follow.

Rodgers does have an evangelical streak, though. He was frustrated at not being more involved in the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan and would surely welcome involvement in St George’s Park.

He is that rare thing in management: an idealist, an ideologue.