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BERLIN, Germany – Berlin may have been the end of a long and winding road for Gareth Southgate as England manager, but he never reached his final destination because he made the same wrong turns at every major intersection.
The 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin was perhaps most similar to the loss to Italy in London in the Euro 2020 final, and the World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia in Moscow two years ago.
When Southgate needed to make a move, when his tactical prowess was tested to the limit, he waited too long. Moscow, London, Berlin. Same story every time.
After eight years in charge – a period in which Southgate has undoubtedly transformed the England team – the Three Lions are still searching for their first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup, and England remain one of the great underachievers in world football.
Every time England have come close to ending their losing streak under Southgate, despite the talent at his disposal, the 53-year-old has been unable to make the kind of contribution from the bench that Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel have made in major club finals.
In Berlin, despite making the bold and correct decision to replace captain Harry Kane after an ineffective hour, the truth is that the Bayern Munich striker should never have started the match in the first place.
Kane’s performances at Euro 2024 were far below his best. The 30-year-old ended the season with a back injury with Bayern that affected him so much that his contribution to the national team was negatively impacted at the tournament – his movement was severely limited, and when he did drop back in search of the ball, there was no one up front as a focal point.
“Physically, it’s been a tough time for him (Kane). He’s only had a handful of games and not quite at the level we all hoped for,” Southgate said after the defeat to Spain.
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Ogden expects Southgate to leave England job and be replaced by Graham Potter
Mark Ogden believes the FA will “want a quiet life” and will not be looking for the best manager to replace Gareth Southgate, if he leaves.
Now, given the above, and that Southgate was aware of this throughout the tournament, why did he continue to insist on signing a player who was making his team worse? Perhaps the team’s reputation? Or fear of a negative media reaction to dropping his captain and then suffering defeat?
Whatever Southgate’s justifications for continuing to select the inappropriate Kane, they focus on his main failing as England manager – a reluctance to act quickly and decisively, as an elite manager would.
In the match against Croatia in 2018, Southgate saw Luka Modric start to dominate the game and take control for his team, and he could do nothing about it, allowing Croatia to overcome a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1 at the Luzhniki Stadium.
Three years later, in the pandemic-postponed Euro 2020 final, Southgate was similarly slow to act as Italy began to dominate before beating England on penalties.
The warning signs were again evident in Germany. England had been miserable in the group stage, but did just enough in each match to qualify, needing a 96th-minute Jude Bellingham goal against Slovakia to save them from the ignominy of a last-16 exit.
England were poor against Switzerland in the quarter-finals before winning on penalties, and then trailed in the semi-finals against the Netherlands for 20 minutes in the second half before substitutes Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer scored the winner in stoppage time.
Southgate was lucky – and every manager is allowed to succeed – that he should have made the change much sooner. And in the game against Spain, it is tempting to wonder how much different it would have been had Southgate been brave enough to start with Watkins and Palmer, rather than building his team around the injured Kane.
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ESPN FC criticises England’s approach
Steve McManaman, Craig Burley and Frank Leboeuf criticise England’s approach, looking at the squad for Euro 2024.
Time and distance will ensure that Southgate’s eight-year, 101-game reign as England manager will be remembered as a positive period in the country’s footballing history as the team re-established England as a continental power. However, there is no ignoring the fact that nations such as Denmark and Greece have won major trophies – the European Championships in 1992 and 2004 respectively – since England’s only World Cup success in 1966. As for the nations England regards as their equals – Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Brazil and Argentina – they have won numerous titles during England’s 58-year drought.
England have the players to end their winless run, but they don’t have the manager. Southgate has failed to get the best out of top talents like Bellingham and Phil Foden at Euro 2024. That’s a harsh reality the FA must now absorb.
“I totally understand the question and I know you have to ask it,” Southgate said when asked about his future after the match. “But I need to have those conversations with important people behind the scenes and not discuss them publicly.”
The noise coming out of the FA is that they will do everything they can to keep Southgate and that they want to extend his contract to get him to the next World Cup in 2026. They don’t want turmoil, they don’t want a difficult manager, they are happy with Southgate’s ambassadorial personality and that he is leading the team deep into the tournaments.
But he is not the manager who leads England to victory. Great managers do not make the same mistakes or show the same failures over and over again when the competition is fierce.
Southgate has come a long way with England, but he has now reached the limit of what he can reach. He is making it known that he knows this, but the FA does not want to hear it.
But with Spain set to return to Madrid as European champions, and England once again empty-handed, it’s time for a real blow. Will football ever come home? Not this time.
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