It’s fair to say the news this week that Gareth Southgate has elected to stay on as England’s head coach for Euro 2024 received a mixed response from fans.
From the outside looking in, this may seem peculiar given Southgate is England’s most successful manager since Sir Alf Ramsey.
So it begs the question: is Gareth a victim of his own success?
It’s been dubbed the ‘impossible job’. Perhaps only being Prime Minister carries more public scrutiny than being the head honcho of the English national team. Indeed even Southgate has quipped in the past that his own postman had been questioning some of his decisions.
It’s easy to forget that the 52-year-old is really an accidental England coach.
But for a newspaper sting bringing Sam Allardyce’s one-game reign to an acrimonious ending in 2016, the fate of the three lions may have headed in an entirely different direction.
(Photo by Han Yan/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Southgate, then England’s under-21s boss, was tasked with revitalising the hopes of a nation coming off the back of their disastrous Euro 2016 exit to Iceland. Morale and expectations were at an all-time low.
Certainly he can be credited with quickly installing a firm sense of unity within the group. England now appear to be a happy camp, with ‘club cliques’ seemingly a thing of the past.
Man management is a key part of modern-day coaching, and Southgate has cultivated an environment in which players appear more than happy to report for duty. He seems to know what makes them tick.
His critics point to his record when coming up against top-class opposition and a dismal Nations League showing, with the nadir coming with a 4-0 home thrashing to Hungary. The boos and jeers at the final whistle clearly left their mark.
Many have also taken a swipe at his in-game management. England took early leads in both their 2018 World Cup semi-final against Croatia and Euro 2020 final against Italy before retreating into their shells and eventually being picked off. Why not go for the jugular?
These are perfectly reasonable viewpoints to hold.
From what I witnessed in Qatar, Southgate seems to have learnt from those games. England were on the front foot far more often, going toe to toe with a top-class French side. Only a wayward Harry Kane penalty prevented what may have been another semi-final berth.
The future is bright. Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young and Dele Alli all started the 2018 World Cup semi-final, with Danny Rose coming off the bench. Fast forward four years and they have been replaced with Phil Foden, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and the precocious Jude Bellingham.
This is an England team that should go deep in major tournaments for years to come.
Southgate has claimed as many knockout wins as all his predecessors had done in the previous 48 years. While he shouldn’t be immune to criticism – it goes with the territory – he has earnt the right to continue to take this England side forward.
Comparing what he inherited in 2016 to where the team stand now, Southgate should be lauded more for his achievements. It will be a tough ask, but taking out the Euros in Germany in 18 months should silence any doubters.
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
England have always had great generations of talent which have been wasted partly due to inept mangers taking the reins. Southgate has done well to galvanise this group and at least form some kind of identity to their football which had been lacking for quite a while before he took over, but the big question for me is his tactical ability and squad selections. He has to stop choosing his favourites and start stamping his authority. Yes, he is loyal to those who have helped him along the journey and he can trust, however it doesn’t mean that fresh blood should be ignored or at least experimented for a few games
Michael Djordjieski
Roar Pro
I think him not being able to make the right substitutions at the right times let England down continuously. He needs to be better at managing games in critical situations. In terms of looking at it from the stats, reaching a World Cup semi-final in 2018, Euro final in 2020 and World Cup quarter-final in 2022 are good results. However, that isn't good enough when you consider England haven't won a trophy since the 1966 World Cup.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Gave away the world cup by falling into the making no subs trap if you dont concede a goal.
Simoc
Roar Rookie
England look to have a bright future with some outstanding displays from their young brigade at the World Cup. They have the players capable of delivering on the big stage and I guess Southgates job is to get them there. It was an incredible World Cup final when French coach Deschamps removed stars Dembele and Giroud from the game after 40 mins in the first half. Then later removed their star Griezmann. I couldn't see Southgate making moves like that but hopefully he learned by watching. Coaching wise the World Cup final was a masterpiece as well and I hear today that the premier French football publication gave their best World Cup coach award to our own Arnold. And he was great to. It was such a strange WC final game that Argentina dominated but when France scored suddenly everything was turned upside down. And the final minutes of extra time were electric. So glad I watched it.
Aiden
Guest
Southgate was previously too conservative, made his team competitive without giving them a killing edge. At the WC they played attractive attacking football... always trying to go on the front foot. He got his selections right, took a few (for him uncharacteristic) risks and I'm not sure what else fans could want. They played very well against France, contained Mbappe and ultimately did not take their chances whereas France did. I think that a manager's job is basically balancing two things ... (1) set the team up in such a way that they nullify the opposition's threats. He did that, and can't be blamed for individual player errors, made by players that were playing well across the tournament; and (2) set the team up to win/score ... and he did that. He can't put the ball in the net, or take the penalty.