Jamie Carragher is one of a number of former England players, including Phil Neville and Owen Hargreaves, that the Football Association is keen to help on the road to management.
There are opportunities this summer to gain experience assisting head coaches at the European Under-21 Championships or Fifa Under-20 World Cup. This is all part of the FA's long-term plan to cherish and use former England internationals in a range of capacities.
Carragher, who has started his coaching badges, announced on Thursday that he would retire at the end of the season. He has been at Liverpool since the age of nine and has made 723 appearances.
The 35-year-old centre-back is weighing up roles in media and coaching with the former likely to be his first preoccupation, although the lure of the training ground, and probably Liverpool's Melwood base, is likely to kick back in at some point.
"Having worked with Jamie Carragher it was always evident that he was a model professional who gave everything he had for club and country," said Roy Hodgson, the England manager.
"After retirement I am sure he will march quickly up the coaching ladder and become one of the country's top young coaches.''
Gary Neville has demonstrated that it is possible to juggle media and coaching demands with Sky and England. Phil Neville, the current Everton player and a possible target for the BBC, has already worked with the under-21s and could be asked whether he wants to join Stuart Pearce in Israel in June or the under-20s in Turkey.
The FA wants to tap into the experience and enthusiasm of those who have recently stepped down internationally, getting them into the new £105 million coaching hub at St George's Park and eventually deepening the pool of prospective managers.
The governing body of English football is mindful that it has too frequently overlooked talent in the past, and officials are still embarrassed about the way their predecessors failed to draw on the huge aura and knowledge of Bobby Moore. The FA is now working closely with his widow Stephanie in helping the Bobby Moore Fund in tackling cancer.
The FA wants to follow the German model and use famous ex-players effectively. Michael Owen and David Beckham will continue in their ambassadorial roles, particularly over the FA's 150th anniversary celebrations. Hargreaves is going with FA officials to Bayern Munich for the Arsenal Champions League game.
The FA would also like some of this generation of former England players to consider moving into the administration of the game. Such distinguished names as Franz Beckenbauer, Matthias Sammer and Oliver Bierhoff are all involved with the Deutscher Fussball-Bund.
Source: Telegraph
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