Gareth Southgate is a brilliant man. A brilliant manager he is not. Not through the lens of the technical and tactical skills that usher teams to major trophies. In that regard, he has come up short.
Take England’s torturous progress in Germany. As one source close to the squad said: ‘There were 100 different ways for that group to make the final with that draw. They did it in pretty much the hardest way possible.’
It is unfair to say they relied on good fortune alone. Luck — be that once-in-a-lifetime goals or dubious penalty awards — is the final act at the end of a sequence of events influenced by the players you pick and the positions you put them in.
To get there, to stay in the game with a dice to spare, takes resilience and belief. Southgate has chiselled those qualities into the psyche of his players during eight years in charge. For that, he deserves enormous credit.
But a team who rely on such fortitude — and fortune — are not a team at all, really. Not in the traditional sense of strategy, cohesion and identity. Not like Spain.
Gareth Southgate (above) resigned as the England manager after Sunday’s loss to Spain
England lost 2-1 to Spain in the Euros final after conceding a late goal in what proved to be Southgate’s last game
What was England’s identity at the Euros? They were survivors, not thrivers. They looked like a bunch of highly valued strangers and, come the end, one of them would write a cheque to buy entry to the next round. A wealth of talent got them through, even if there was a paucity to their play.
It did not have to be like that. It should not have been like that. Southgate’s squad selection was bold. His team selection was safe. He picked a side on reputation for game one — but then did nothing as the big names proved to be even bigger letdowns. Alf Ramsey didn’t pick Jimmy Greaves and won. Southgate picked Harry Kane and lost.
England’s stars may argue they were let down by their manager. Certainly, the sight of Jude Bellingham and Jordan Pickford screaming towards Southgate and his coaches in the second half of Sunday’s final was alarming. Here were two more voices added to the 20 million back home — ‘Gareth, do something!’.
Southgate’s substitutes at the tournament invariably worked. Ivan Toney helped rescue the last-16 tie versus Slovakia. Cole Palmer injected adventure against Switzerland in the next round, and was among three subs who scored penalties. In the semi-final, against the Netherlands, Palmer supplied the pass for Ollie Watkins to score the winner. They were both second-half introductions. Then, in the final, Palmer scored from the bench.
England’s stars may argue they were let down by their manager. The sight of Bellingham screaming towards Southgate and his coaches in the second half of the final was alarming
Southgate’s substitutes at the tournament invariably worked for the Three Lions
To get there, to stay in the game, takes resilience and belief. Southgate has chiselled those qualities into the psyche of his players during eight years in charge
However, if the life-vests are saving you every time, is it not an idea to have them in the pool to begin with? A good substitute can also be righting the wrong of the original selection. That is what it felt like in Germany. To revisit the observation of the source close to the squad, it could have been a damn sight easier, not to mention easier on the eye.
And, had it been, had Palmer, Watkins or Toney, Anthony Gordon, even, been trusted from the off, you suspect England would have arrived at the final with a swagger instead of a stagger. Spain walked out at the Olympiastadion having played very well in six matches.
England had done the same for around 60 minutes. And that comes back to the manager, because the players he had are better than that.
Collectively, England would hold a higher market value than Spain. How, then, did the team consistently perform to less than the sum of its parts?
They were runners-up in the last two Euros, yes. But they entered both tournaments as favourites.
Indeed, the only two knockout matches they have played under Southgate for which they were not the bookmakers’ pick — France in the quarter-final of Qatar 2022 and Spain on Sunday — they have lost.
Then there are the opportunities missed. Against Italy in the last final — and Croatia in the World Cup semi three years earlier, both matches in which they led — Southgate should have thrown caution to a tail wind. Instead, he put up wind breaks and allowed the opposition to blow them down.
Even in Berlin, at 1-1 and with the Spanish bulls seemingly cowed by England’s lions, Southgate’s side did not sink their teeth in. Instead, they bit their nails.
England threw away a lead in the 2018 World Cup semi-final against Croatia
Southgate’s side also failed to kick on after taking an early lead against Italy as they lost the Euro 202 final on penalties
At times during Euro 2024, Southgate seemed locked in by his own indecision
The manager talks — and he talks so well — of fearlessness and not being afraid to lose, and yet in the biggest matches, England have looked scared to win when victory was in their jaws.
At times in Germany, Southgate appeared locked in by his own indecision. Then, from the darkness, a lightbulb moment. And that was England, flashes of brilliance. You cannot flicker forever, though.
Southgate leaves as England’s most successful manager since Ramsey, but he was not good enough to seize greatness. He can hold his head high, but his hands remain empty.