Carlo Ancelotti believes the Football Association should not rule out going foreign again when they choose a successor for Fabio Capello.
The FA have indicated that they would prefer an Englishman in charge when Capello steps down after the European Championships in 2012.
But Chelsea's Italian boss Ancelotti, speaking on BBC 5 Live's Sportsweek programme, said: "It could be English, it could be a foreign manager, it is the decision of FA. I don't think it has to be necessarily English. There are a lot of coaches with good qualities, not just English."
He added: "For a long time the England team has had a foreign manager, they were unlucky also. (Sven-Goran) Eriksson was not lucky."
In the wake of the headlines surrounding Wayne Rooney, Ancelotti also insisted that the private lives of footballers should be respected.
Chelsea have had their fair share of negative publicity surrounding players such as John Terry and Ashley Cole.
Ancelotti said: "My philosophy is that I don't want to control the private lives of my players.
"My players have to know that they have to respect the shirt also when they are outside of the training ground, outside of the pitch, but I am not able to control the private lives of my players and I don't want to judge anybody because everyone can do everything.
"A lot of kids are looking at the behaviour of the players so they have more responsibility and they have to know this, but as a manager I don't want to control.
"If my player wants to stay outside, go to bed at 12 o'clock or eight o'clock - I'm not interested."
Source: PA
