Following England’s Euro 2024 heartbreak, is it time for Gareth Southgate to quit as manager?
Mikel Oyarzabal’s 86th minute winner sealed a 2-1 win over England as Spain won a fourth Euros title, whilst Southgate’s Three Lions became the first team to lose two consecutive Euros finals.
Questions therefore are being asked about Southgate’s future and whether he has taken the team as far as he can, necessitating the need for a fresh manager at the helm.
Now, here is a look at three reasons as to why Southgate should consider quitting.
Conservative Tactics
Despite having guided England to the semi-finals in four of seven tournaments (including UEFA Nations League) under his reins, Southgate’s conservative tactics of low-block football now is potentially holding the team back from breaking through to the glory step.
With a squad packed full of talented attacking flair like Harry Kane, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham, fans rightly should of expected exciting attacking football yet were met with sluggish possession-based football which limited the quality on offer.
Individual brilliance from players like Bellingham and Bukayo Saka though proved key to England’s run, but there has to be questions asked about Southgate’s tactics which largely held the Three Lions back from fulfilling their potential and playing to players’ strengths.
Another tactical criticism that many will lay at Southgate’s door is his lack of rotation in his starting line-up at times, aside from Marc Guehi’s suspension for the Quarter-Final plus tinkering in one midfield position with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Gallagher and Kobbie Mainoo.
If there is one positive then Southgate had become more ruthless in his substitutions especially with Kane, although the captain really should of been hooked sooner at times especially when got a reliable in-form striker in Watkins who added pace.
Squad Selection
One issue that every manager has to deal with is squad selection decisions but Southgate has tended to stick with his favourites irrespective of form, which certainly showed in his team selections which was good for consistency.
That consistency though exposed a weakness in Southgate’s team management in his inability to change tactically per match, even if meant taking a risk in dropping or rotating some below-par players like Kane and Foden for Watkins and Anthony Gordon for example.
Looking at the squad as a whole, Southgate deserves some criticism for taking just one left-back in Luke Shaw who couldn’t play until the knockout stages, especially when there were decent if untested alternatives like Alfie Doughty available to bolster that position’s depth.
Joe Gomez, Lewis Dunk and Adam Wharton meanwhile were unused across the whole tournament, which was a shame for Dunk who would of brought extra leadership, and another aerial threat in the absence of Harry Maguire who was deservedly dropped due to poor form.
Wharton meanwhile could of provided a midfield solution akin to Mainoo but wasn’t given that chance, especially in the goalless draw against Slovenia which would of been the ideal time to give him a first taste of major international tournament action.
Southgate therefore surely must wonder if he could of been bolder in his squad selection or whether he is too comfortable in his decision making and needs to step aside to allow a new manager to bring a more ruthless edge.
Managerial Limits
Every manager has their managerial limits as seen most recently by Jurgen Klopp’s decision to leave Liverpool just as he began to build a new era at Anfield, so perhaps Southgate has found his managerial limits.
If flash back to when Southgate took charge in Autumn 2016, England had been embarrassingly beaten by Iceland (the country not supermarket) at that summer’s Euros, he has done a brilliant job to take them to at least the semi-finals in four of seven tournaments under his watch.
Defeats in each of their two Euros Final appearances under Southgate however does suggest that the ex Middlesbrough boss has reached his maximum limits as an international manager, and that a new manager is needed to take the team forward to proper glory.
If England were to go on and taste success under a new boss then that wouldn’t be a disservice to Southgate but more of a cementation of his legacy, particularly in terms of trusting youth alongside experience to create a title-challenging team which can be built upon in future.
Should he indeed quit then Southgate will certainly depart as a national hero for reviving the England’s Men National Team, especially when consider the initial base that he had upon his appointment eight years ago.
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