Gareth Southgate’s tenure as England manager came at one of England’s most embarrassing moments in the international game.
In competition, England lost in the Euro 2016 round of 16 to a team from Iceland playing in their first major international tournament. That defeat forced Roy Hodgson and much of the coaching staff to resign. Then, just a few months later, the 2016 scandal ousted Sam Allardyce after just one game in charge.
England, preparing to lose captain Wayne Rooney and goalkeeper Joe Hart, seemed devoid of direction. Several young players, namely Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling looked like strong candidates to replace any exit.
However, they did not have a coach to guide them.
Fast forward to Gareth Southgate’s reign over the Three Lions. England finished fourth at Russia 2018, their best result since the magical run of Italy ’90. Three summers later, England reached the Euro 2020 final, losing on penalties at Wembley to Italy. That was England’s best European Championship result since Euro 1996, when Southgate himself missed the crucial penalty kick in England’s semi-final loss to eventual champions Germany.
While most countries would revel in Southgate’s success, his critics continue to say England should achieve more. With one of the deepest rosters with potential at every position, the pressure turns on the manager.
Gareth Southgate has the potential to be the most successful manager in England’s international history. It’s about selecting the right option given the opposition and letting the talent do what he can.
Gareth Southgate’s role with England
International coaches don’t spend a lot of time with their players. Only a few days of training precede two or three meetings in a week. Players then return to their individual clubs to battle it out. That only happens a handful of times each season.
Consequently, it can be a challenge for managers, such as Gareth Southgate, to get their ideas across to talented players. Gareth Southgate takes advantage of the little time he has with the players. The former England international prioritizes building relationships with his players, allowing them to bond and trust each other.
Southgate’s ‘person over player’ approach doesn’t quell the litany of abuse England fans hurl his way. They often don’t care about the player’s emotions, only the results and trophies they fight for. To be fair, that’s the point of the game: to win.
By their standard, Southgate stops them.
‘Disappointment’
At Russia 2018, England had the second youngest team in the World Cup after Nigeria. Even then, established players like Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker played key roles. With England eliminating a tough Colombia side in the round of 16 before a comfortable 1-0 win over Sweden, this looked like a coming-of-age party for this England team.
Despite losing to Croatia in a game in which England had an early lead, fourth place was a huge win for the team. Trent Alexander-Arnold was only 19 years old at the time, and Harry Maguire looked strong at the age of 25.
At Euro 2020, Gareth Southgate drew on his young squad to bring even more experience to the players in the big moments. The average age of the team was almost a year younger than Russia’s 26 in 2018, even though Euro 2020 came three years after that tournament.
Gareth Southgate’s main complaint regarding the loss at Wembley stemmed from the fact that it was another game in which England held the lead. Instead of pushing the agenda with the plethora of young, exciting and quick options at the top, three of the manager’s five substitutions came late in the 30-minute extra period. In fact, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho only came on in the 120th minute to take the penalties. Of course, both of them missed the shooting.
Meanwhile, after a disappointing run of competitive performances, England have gone more than seven hours without scoring a goal. To make matters worse, Southgate seems reluctant to change. Instead, he relies on doing what has made him successful in the past (see below) instead of making the improvements he so badly needs now. On top of that, the management of him in the game is poor. He is too slow to make substitutions and seems to be reactive in games rather than making proactive changes or decisions.
Gareth Southgate offers his reaction to last night’s loss in Milan:
— England (@England) September 24, 2022
In conclusion, while Southgate is a qualified manager, his team’s overly conservative style of play on the pitch holds the team back. Instead of moving forward and unleashing their power, England continually pulls back and tries to hold on to a small lead. That is the final downfall of Southgate and the England national team. We will never know what the team is capable of when the coach is too pragmatic.
