LONDON: Former England midfielder Paul Scholes would like Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola to take charge of the England team one day, he said in an interview published on Saturday.

"I hope he becomes England coach one day and bring us his style," Scholes told Spanish sports daily Marca.

Scholes, who had a long career with Manchester United, said he admired the style of the Catalan coach at his former club's bitter rivals.

While Guardiola has not had the same impact in his debut campaign in English football as he did in his first seasons at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, where he stormed to the title, City are second in the Premier League, eight points adrift of leaders Chelsea, and beat Monaco 5-3 in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday.

"He can still succeed in England, he could improve in defence because at every ground you come under pressure but everyone in England loves the way his teams play," Scholes said of Guardiola.

Scholes, one of the leading figures of Alex Ferguson's trophy-laden spell in charge of United, also praised current United coach Jose Mourinho despite the fact that his former side are sixth in the Premier League, 12 points behind Chelsea.

"He is getting the team to play how the fans and the club want. Before the style of play from other coaches was difficult to understand, their league position does not match the good football the team are playing," Scholes said.

"The first few months were not great but he wants to win everything. Now they are winning the games that they should have won before. He's returning United back to where they belong."