As fresh questions swirl around Gareth Southgate’s future as manager of England, here are three reasons why he should stick with the Three Lions.
Following England’s cruel Quarter-Final exit against France at 2022 Men’s FIFA World Cup, fresh questions quickly began to swirl around Southgate’s future as the National Team manager.
The ex Middlesbrough manager consequently admitted post-match that he needs time to consider his future, as he commented: “These tournaments take a lot out of you and I need time to reflect.”
His comment immediately prompted speculation over his future as England now switch focus to qualifying for UEFA Euro 2024, where they are in a tough group containing reigning Euro champions, Italy plus Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta.
Whilst for many, it is easy to argue that Southgate’s time is up, there are still plenty of reasons as to why he should stick with England for UEFA Euro 2024 at minimum.
Young Progressive Squad
Since he replaced Sam Allardyce in Autumn 2016 initially as interim manager, Southgate has utilised his experience of coaching several players at Under-21 level to build a high-quality squad full of depth and versatility.
As part of that evolution, Southgate has managed to blend experience and youth with little loyalty to players who were part of his U21s squad at 2015 UEFA U21s Euro, as evidenced by only John Stones and Harry Kane having gone on to fully establish themselves under Southgate in the senior team.
Further highlighting how youth has been at the centre of Southgate’s rebuild, only six players to have been called up this year were aged 30 or over, of which only Nick Pope, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and Jordan Henderson are regulars in the squad.
Out of that quartet, I can only see Pope realistically making UEFA Euro 2024 because Walker, Henderson and Trippier will be 34 and 33 years-old respectively come June 2024, so it is tough to see them keeping their places if players like Djed Spence, Charlie Cresswell and Jacob Ramsay can break through.
We can’t ignore the reality that six key players (Jordan Pickford, Stones, Harry Maguire, Eric Dier, Conor Coady and Harry Kane) will start hitting their twilight years come Euro 2024, yet have the talent to potentially prove integral in 18 months time in what is likely their last shot at a major trophy.
The big question for Southgate though has to be whether he is up for the task of once again evolving this team, which I believe he is capable of achieving if he can promote wisely from the upcoming generation combined with in-form domestic players and blend with a current youth-based squad.
Evolution of National Pride
If look beyond the progressive nature of his squad, Southgate has actually done a lot to reignite an evolution in national pride of the England squad, who were beginning to look feeble compared to other footballing giants come 2016 when they hit rock-bottom with a shock Euro exit against Iceland.
Yet Southgate has quietly managed to revive England’s fortunes with only ten players from that disastrous Euros exit having played a part in England’s run to fourth-place at 2018 FIFA World Cup, amidst literally little expectations which triggered a wave of adrenaline and renwed belief of fans at home.
That optimisim has since continued to grow with a third-placed finish in 2018-19 UEFA Nations League, followed by a memorable Euro 2020 run to the Final – which ended in typical English penalties heartbreak amidst pride at their progress and evolution amidst unacceptable crowd disorder pre-match.
Racial abuse also marred the aftermath of that Final but what we saw after the Quarter-Final exit to France at this World Cup was a largely positive celebration of the team’s progress, which shows just how much this team under Southgate has united the country in recent years.
Now I can’t think of a manager who has done a better job at uniting a country behind their Men’s National Team amidst times of social turmoil than Southgate has achieved, as the UK dealt with Brexit, Coronavirus and Cost of Living crisis in just the last six years alone.
That evolution in national pride under Southgate has meant that England can dream once again of future glory whilst belting out tunes like Sweet Caroline and It’s Coming Home, especially without the preceived feeling of arrogance associated with the team in previous years.
Although small minorities would happily see Southgate quit purely due to criticism over his tactical decision making, those voices are only small now because of how he has turned the tide in national morale because their points would be louder even a decade ago than they can be heard now.
Southgate now has the opportunity to build on that ever-growing national pride heading into the Euros in 18 months time, which surely will be a make-or-break tournament for the 52 year-old in what would be his fourth major tournament in charge of England.
Best Man For Job
Although the defeat is difficult to swallow amidst inept refereeing from Wilton Sampaio, England’s performance against the reigning champions was full of grit and determination which marked huge progress from the dark days when the Three Lions would of melted against such opposition.
The stats even reflected that progress under Southgate because England had double the number of shots – having produced 16 shots to France’s eight, of which more were also converted onto target, proving how much progress this Three Lions squad have made in six years.
Southgate’s youth policy also has made a huge impact as evidenced by emergence of Jordan Pickford, Harry Maguire, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka plus other youngsters across his reign, which marks a change from the days of mainly taking experienced and injury-prone players to tournaments.
If you look at the current squad under Southgate, it is difficult to described any player as ‘injury-prone’ which shows improved reliability in his squad selection, on top of his ability to blend youth and experience which has been key to their Euro 2020 and 2022 World Cup runs.
As for who would replace Southgate as manager, only Eddie Howe and Graham Potter look the right fit at present given their managerial styles and keeness to give youth a chances on merit, although Frank Lampard and English-born Canada manager, John Herdman would also be fair bets.
Howe, Potter and Herdman though are committed to their individual projects at Newcastle, Chelsea and Canada respectively, whilst Lampard and Steven Gerrard haven’t exactly impressed in the Premier League to state their case for any shot at the “impossible job” as described by past England managers.
Southgate therefore remains the best man to lead England forward until Euro 2024 at minimum, although the FA really should start planning for his replacement now because there will come a point when the team comes unstuck and players tire of Southgate’s reign.
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