BERLIN, Germany — Berlin may mark the end of a long and winding road for Gareth Southgate as England manager, but he never quite reached his final destination because he made the same wrong turns at every key intersection.
Harsh? Perhaps, but Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final at the Olympic Stadium in the German capital resembles the one against Italy in London in the Euro 2020 final, and the World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia in Moscow two years earlier.
When Southgate had to act, when his tactical sense was put to the test, he waited too long. Moscow, London, Berlin. Same scenario each time.
After eight years in charge – a period in which Southgate has arguably transformed the England team – the Three Lions are still searching for their first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup, and England remain the great underachievers in world football.
Every time England have come close to ending their losing run under Southgate, despite the talent at his disposal, the 53-year-old has been unable to make the decisive contribution from the bench that Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel have made in major finals of the club game.
And in Berlin, even though he made the bold and correct decision to replace captain Harry Kane after an ineffective hour, the truth is that the Bayern Munich forward should not have started in the first place.
Kane’s performances at Euro 2024 have been well below his best. The 30-year-old finished his season with Bayern with a back injury and it affected him so much that his contribution to the national team had a negative effect at the tournament – his movement was so limited and when he dropped back to get the ball, there was no one left up front as a focal point.
“Physically it’s been a tough time for him (Kane),” Southgate said after the defeat to Spain. “He’s played a few games and he’s not at the level we all would have hoped for.”
1:16
Ogden predicts Southgate will leave England and be replaced by Graham Potter
Mark Ogden believes the Football Association 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 the fact that Southgate was aware of it throughout the tournament, why did he continue to stick with a player who was making his team worse? Perhaps for reputational reasons? For fear of a negative media reaction if he let his captain down and then suffered a defeat?
Whatever Southgate’s justification for continuing to select an unfit Kane, it focuses on his central failing as England manager: his unwillingness to act quickly and decisively, as an elite coach would.
Against Croatia in 2018, Southgate saw Luka Modric start to dominate the game and take control of his team and did nothing to change it, allowing Croatia to overcome a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1 at the Luzhniki Stadium.
Three years later, in the pandemic-delayed Euro 2020 final, Southgate was also slow to react as Italy began to dominate before beating England on penalties.
The warning signs were there again in Germany. England were disappointing in the group stage but did what was necessary in every game to qualify, while they needed a 96th-minute Jude Bellingham goal against Slovakia to save themselves from the ignominy of a last-16 exit.
England were weak against Switzerland in the quarter-final before winning on penalties, then trailed in the semi-final against the Netherlands for 20 second-half minutes before Southgate’s substitutes Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer combined for another winner in added time.
Southgate was lucky – and any manager is entitled to be lucky – because he should have made the change much earlier. Against Spain, one is tempted to wonder how different it might have been had Southgate had the courage to start with Watkins and Palmer, rather than building his team around the injured Kane.
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ESPN FC team criticizes England’s approach
Steve McManaman, Craig Burley and Frank Leboeuf criticise England’s approach, given the squad of players present at Euro 2024.
Time and distance will ensure that Southgate’s reign, which lasted eight years and 101 games, will be remembered as a positive period in English football history, as the team re-established the Three Lions as a continental power. However, there is no denying that the likes of Denmark and Greece have won major tournaments – the Euros in 1992 and 2004 respectively – since England’s solitary World Cup success in 1966. As for the nations England regard as their equals – Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Brazil and Argentina – they have won numerous honours during England’s 58-year drought.
England have the players to end this winless run, but they do not have the manager. Southgate has failed to get the best out of such exceptional talents as Bellingham and Phil Foden at Euro 2024. It is a brutal reality that the Football Association must now come to terms with.
“I totally understand the question and I know you have to ask it,” Southgate said when asked about his future after the game. “But I have to have those conversations with important people behind the scenes and not talk about it publicly.”
The rumours within the FA suggest that they will do everything they can to keep Southgate and want to extend his contract to take him to the next World Cup in 2026. They don’t want upheaval, they don’t want a difficult manager, they are happy with Southgate’s ambassadorial personality and the fact that he takes the team far in tournaments.
But he is not the manager who will make England win. The best managers do not make the same mistakes or repeat the same flaws over and over again when the pressure is on.
Southgate has taken England so far, but he has now reached his limit. He seems to know that he is aware of it, but the English FA does not want to hear it.
As Spain prepare to return to Madrid with the European Championship trophy and England return empty-handed, it is time to return to reality. Is football coming home? Not this time.