Whether you love or hate him, there’s no denying the job Gareth Southgate’s done in helping lift England out of a dark period.
Southgate took over as England manager in November 2016 after a successful spell as interim manager following Sam Allardyce’s inevitable departure. When the 45-year-old Southgate took the job, England had just been embarrassingly bundled out of Euro 2016 by Iceland.
If we were to go further back, England had only reached two semi-finals and zero finals in 17 major competitions from 1966-2016. The Three Lions had not experienced good times on the international stage since the heroics of Sir Alf Ramsey, who led the team to their sole big trophy – the 1966 World Cup win.
For such a proud footballing nation, this was not good enough.
(Photo by Han Yan/Xinhua via Getty Images)
It’s safe to say no one would have expected Southgate, of all people, to lead England back to success on the world stage. Since Southgate’s managerial debut against Malta in November 2016, the former Aston Villa and Middlesbrough defender has managed a century of games for England, only behind Ramsey (113) and Walter Winterbottom (139).
He also boasts the second-highest win percentage of English managers who have managed over 50 games (60%) behind Ramsey, who sits above all with 61.1%. Southgate reached the Euro final in 2020 for the second time in the country’s history and will remarkably do so again in 2024. This type of success is not and has not been normal for England, and the new generation of fans should realise that.
So why is it that Southgate gets so much stick despite arguably being England’s greatest-ever manager?
If you were to illustrate Southgate’s tenure as England manager, a perfect example would be England’s Euro 2024 run. England’s road to the final has visibly been a struggle at times, and no real momentum has been acquired. Despite this, Southgate’s team somehow finds themselves among the last two at Euro 2024.
Nothing is ever perfect in this world, but something had to change for England to achieve real success. The most apparent difference under Southgate was the newfound emphasis on results over viewability, leading to decreased enjoyment of English games. Labelled ‘boring,’ ‘safe,’ and ‘flawed,’ Southgate’s managerial style has always been a topic of heavy controversy, even more so than his results on the pitch.
Southgate may be overly conservative or pragmatic but has backed it up with promising results. Yes, his greatest strengths are also his greatest flaws, costing England two chances at major silverware. The what-ifs will always remain. Who knows what could have been if the English manager had been more proactive and decisive in important games such as the Euro 2020 final and the 2018 World Cup semi-final.
However, it is not certain that England would have even gotten that far without Southgate’s influence. Southgate has positively impacted the team, turning an English team of individuals into a collective, something many past managers could not do. Southgate’s tenure was the first time in a long time that an England team looked so well-bonded and positive. Before the semi-final win against the Netherlands, Luke Shaw praised Southgate for taking England ‘to the next level.’ Man management is also a vital asset in a manager’s arsenal, and it was missing for England many years before Southgate’s arrival.
Southgate’s time will inevitably be up soon if he does not achieve silverware, but genuine English fans will acknowledge the body of work he has done for the nation. Despite some disappointing results, what Southgate has achieved in the bigger picture should be appreciated. Southgate’s teams have exceeded expectations, while superior squads have faltered in the past.
Previous English sides had better personnel and played better football, but they didn’t have anywhere near the level of success Southgate’s sides have had. Take the 2002 World Cup, for example. Headlined by names such as Gerrard, Beckham, and Ferdinand, this England generation had arguably the greatest English players of all time but never managed to reach a semi-final stage.
Success was never achieved due to a lack of team chemistry and little tactical organisation. England’s golden generation of the early 2000s arguably performed better than the highly touted Brazilians in the 2002 World Cup quarter-final. However, the records don’t lie. England never had the foundations of a proper national team to see out those games.
Maybe it was because Southgate was part of the squad in 2002 that he is who he is today. The manager’s ideology projects solidity over the inconsistent, expansive approach of old. As a result, the unbalanced and non-cohesive nature that defined past sides went down the drain. Southgate’s teams are tenacious and organised by design, but most importantly, they have shown a strong togetherness that surpasses all past English sides.
Barring the penalty shootout loss to Italy in 2020, England has won three out of four shootouts in major competitions since Southgate took over. Their penalty record is not purely down to luck; Southgate has instilled confidence and resilience in this new crop of English talents. Also, since Southgate has been in charge, England has won eight knockout matches, five of which were in the European championships. When England needed a guiding hand beyond tactics, Southgate was there.
Despite the various opinions, one thing is for sure. The whole of England will have Southgate’s back in Berlin against Spain. It was not easy or good to watch for England in Euro 2024 at times, but like magic, they’re in another European final. How Southgate does it should not work, but it does. If you were a scriptwriter, your senses would tingle at this matchup.
Is this the fairytale farewell for England’s most ever polarising manager? As the last six years have proven, anything is possible.
Minh Tranhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2024/07/11/boring-safe-flawed-or-the-greatest-ever-how-englands-most-polarising-manager-changed-a-generation/‘Boring, safe, flawed’ or the greatest ever? How England’s most polarising manager changed a generation
إرسال تعليق