How the stylish Gareth Southgate transformed England from a deluded group of individuals into heroes who love to wear white shirts

GARETH SOUTHGATE won nothing, but he changed everything.

The decision to resign is correct, but Southgate leaves a legacy that will benefit his successor enormously.

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So how will he be seen in history? It might be kinder in a few years.

Right now, there is still a lot of frustration about the way everything ended in Berlin.

However, Southgate is second only to Sir Alf Ramsey in terms of overall success and no other manager comes close.

Reaching two important finals – one of them for the first time on foreign soil – was a great achievement.

So did the overhaul of a dysfunctional football team that had just lost to Iceland at Euro 2016.

The players were so paranoid that they even refused to tell us in France who was the best at playing table tennis.

This deluded group of individuals thought everyone was against them – and they weren’t.

Southgate changed all that with a much more grown-up approach.

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He encouraged players to tell their own story, to express themselves, and got rid of a siege mentality that didn’t need to exist.

Former coach Fabio Capello complained that the English team played with fear.

Odds on England’s next manager

• Graham Potter – Evens
• Eddie Howe – 3/1
• Mauricio Pochettino – 4/1
• Lee Carsley – 01/10
• Frank Lampard – 01/10
• Jürgen Klopp – 01/10
• Pep Guardiola – 16/1

Under Southgate, players loved wearing that white shirt.

There were no more cliques, no more egos, no more leaving teams with questionable injuries, which would be sorted out in the next Prem game.

Southgate has created a club atmosphere within the England squad and now all you have to do is look at the photos every time the players shake hands at St George’s Park.

They are all companions, pulling together in the same direction, as it should be.

Southgate had a reputation for sticking to his favorites – although Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart, Jack Wilshere, Chris Smalling and Dele Alli were dropped for him.

Jack Grealish, James Maddison, Marcus Rashford, Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire were left out of the squad for Euro 2024.

Smiling assassin Southgate certainly wasn’t afraid to make a big decision.

In some cases, fans and experts feel that the media has been too soft on him.

The reason other managers struggled was because England were terrible at major tournaments and were considered a joke around the world – especially at the 2014 World Cup after finishing bottom of their group.

It is also worth remembering that England failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

And the team included Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Gary Neville.

Southgate is gone – now it’s time to go foreign

By Dave Kidd

There is a natural preference for the appointment of an English successor.

And in an ideal world, the England coach should always be English. But this is not an ideal scenario.

Therefore, the FA must be ambitious in finding the best man for the job, regardless of nationality.

Because England need a manager who will gain the immediate respect of the players, who is tactically bold enough to face Spain and of a strong enough character to deal with Jude Bellingham’s status at Real Madrid Galactico, which threatens to cause future problems at the club. English team. Yes, when the FA went foreign in the past it didn’t work well.

However, the problem with Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello was that neither had any previous involvement in English football.

They lacked knowledge and understanding of football culture – in fact, Capello barely spoke the language.

There is now a wealth of foreign managerial talent with significant Premier League experience, including Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino, Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel.

Read more from Dave Kidd on who England should turn to.

However, despite having to face international debutants Marc Guehi and Kobbie Mainoo due to injuries, Southgate was finding his feet after reaching the final.

It is true that Southgate did not get the best out of the team at Euro 2024.

In Germany he selected an unbalanced squad, failed to make changes during games quickly enough and paid the price for starting Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and Kieran Trippier when they were not 100 percent fit.

But even though Southgate was attacked from all sides, he put on his tin hat and dragged England into the final.

However, the criticism he received during Euro 2024 – and much of it was really nasty – clearly upset him.

This will have influenced your decision to quit yesterday. He was clearly angered by criticism from all pundits, not just Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.

He was also deeply upset about having beer thrown at him by fans.

After changing the culture and overall results over eight years with England, Southgate was surprised to see so much hate thrown his way from fans.

He felt he deserved better. And he was right.

As a patriotic Englishman, being ridiculed on social media will have been absolutely painful for him.

Regardless of Sunday’s result, I think Southgate would have left because of all the shit he was getting.

Southgate’s record in England

Games played: 102

Games won 61,

Games tied 24,

Lost 17,

Scored 213,

And he conceded 72 for a win rate of 59.8 percent.

There is no doubt that Southgate has let some colossal and historic opportunities slip away.

But football is all about fine margins.

Had Hart not produced a 10/10 performance in the World Cup qualifier in Slovenia in October 2016, England would not have escaped with a goalless draw.

And Southgate wouldn’t have gotten the full-time job.

By beating Croatia 1-0 in the 2018 World Cup semi-final, England would certainly have reached the final if Harry Kane had crossed the ball to Raheem Sterling.

At Euro 2020, in the final against Italy, there were three penalties missed by English players.

If Kane hadn’t missed the penalty in the 2022 World Cup quarter-final against France, losing 2-1, it could have been different.

Hugo Lloris recently said that England would have won easily in extra time because the French were exhausted.

And then this year there were narrower margins, with Jude Bellingham saving England with a 95th-minute equalizer against Slovakia, a victory over Switzerland on penalties.

In the final, Spain’s winner was marginally in play and England wasted opportunities right at the end.

Maybe Kane really is cursed with the trophy drought… he may never get a better chance with England

Now it seems he really is cursed. Along with the rest of us, writes Charlie Wyett.

Tragically, unbelievably, Harry Kane’s agonizing quest for a trophy still continues and you have to wonder if he will actually achieve it.

Certainly for England, in any case.

Kane has already suffered defeat in three major club finals and two European Championship finals.

Last night the Three Lions captain was so ineffective that he was replaced by Ollie Watkins just after the hour.

Like much of this tournament, he really struggled to make an impact when England needed him, not that he got much service.

He had one shot in the first half and it was Rodri, who was later injured and left at half-time.

When Cole Palmer scored that brilliant equalizer, Kane came off the bench, only for the national team to be kicked in the chest again late on.

Kane was substituted in both games against Switzerland and the Netherlands, which England won, but on this occasion, he was only able to witness a harrowing turnaround just when it looked like Gareth Southgate’s side had pulled themselves out of trouble.

The Bayern Munich forward suffered defeat in the 2018 World Cup semi-finals against Croatia, suffered heartbreak against Italy in the Euro2020 final and then missed a penalty in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals against France.

He really thought it was his time, even though England didn’t play well in Germany.

Kane will know he will have more opportunities with England. But not many more.

The World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico seems a long way off and will certainly be under a new coach. Will England be better than it is now? Probably not.

And we’re all left wondering how much better England would have been by attacking and dismissing Kane in the best way possible.

Read the full verdict on Harry Kane’s curse…

Or check out all of Charlie Wyett’s Euro 2024 stories…

Southgate’s fate will be intriguing.

The 53-year-old feels he has done enough to land a big job, but most fans of Premier League clubs will complain if he is appointed to them.

It takes someone with big cojones to make a big decision.

If the season starts disastrously for Manchester United under Erik ten Hag, which is likely to happen, United could look for a manager in October.

United’s sporting director is Dan Ashworth, who knows Southgate well from their time together at the FA.

While it wasn’t a popular decision, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Ashworth called his former colleague.

But for now, Southgate just needs a break.

He has been a class act and leaves with his head held high.

England fell short with him in charge. There’s no denying that.

But let’s hope Southgate still gets the respect he deserves and is remembered as the man who, in fact, changed everything.

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