There has been a lot and I mean, A LOT of speculation surrounding Gareth Southgate’s future as the Three Lions boss. To some extent, this is completely understandable when it comes to England fans jumping the gun and wanting him gone. His tactics and choice of players have not paid off whatsoever during the current Nations League. To think England has only managed 2 points out of their last 4 games is just unthinkable. This is the big reason why people want him gone with England suffering from their worst home defeat and only their second-ever loss to Hungary.
If you have managed to watch all of the previous 4 games from start to finish then you deserve a medal because I had to switch it off. The performances from the players have just not been good enough, no matter how you look at it. In fact, it is rather embarrassing to watch. You probably hear the majority of your friends comparing it to Sunday League but in fact, Sunday league is more exciting than those performances.
However, whilst a wide majority of the fans are calling for him to be sacked, we first have to remember his achievements as the England boss. To put this into perspective, he is arguably one of the most successful England managers ever. I know this is hard to believe but below we have listed all of his achievements/ fun times he has given us over the years.
Table of Contents
Southgate’s Achievements as England Boss
World Cup 2018
This is the time he made waistcoats cool with the whole nation supporting it, for a good reason too. Arguably one of the most exciting and greatest experiences of my life to date. Experiencing every game with friends or family cheering on the Three Lions it was like being in a movie. Normally dreadful in penalty shootouts, we manage to get past Columbia via penalties which were easily the most sweaty my palms have ever been. Regardless, we made it through and into the Semi-Finals, the furthest we have reached in the World Cup in a very long time. Even with the golden generation, we struggled massively.
This was a sign of hope, something we were not used to as England fans and this let us look forward to the next Euro’s
Euro 2020
WOW, WOW, WOW. Again, he gave us an experience of a lifetime, getting England through the finals, and beating Germany along the way. Beating Germany was definitely up there with the best part of the Euro. Alongside, reaching the finals, of course. Anyway, in a time when the nation needed a sign of hope, Gareth Southgate delivered. After delaying the Euro by a year due to COVID-19 and multiple lockdowns, it was finally time to leave the house and put on the retro England shirts. Wherever you went, if England were playing, you would see countless retro England Shirts.
Gareth Southgate’s Downfall
So what is making Gareth Southgate a public enemy, and is it his fault? As a manager, you need to take responsibility regardless of how the players perform. After all, we are constantly playing 5 at the back and struggling to even create chances. With most of our top creators sitting on the bench such as Foden, Grealish and Sancho to name a few. And why is this? Well, according to Southgate, he doesn’t believe they have earned a spot due to their defensive capabilities and until they can improve on that they won’t make the starting 11. That is just crazy, in a team with 5 defenders, and two sitting midfielders in Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice. Yet he doesn’t want to start our creative players based on their defensive work rate. So maybe he hasn’t got the tactics right, or maybe the players are in holiday mode after a long season. Who knows, let’s just hope they are World Cup ready when the time comes.
I do think we need to give Gareth another chance at redemption, even though the football tactics may have not planned out, he deserves to take us to the World Cup in Qatar. Hopefully, he will make us eat all of our words and showcase something spectacular and do one better than the previous and bring it home. That’s just me getting ahead of myself, but I definitely won’t get my hopes up.
Who Would Replace Southgate?
If we were to replace Southgate, who would be next in line and how can we know if they will even do a greater job. Well, there is one man that is being called upon already in the form of Graham Potter. For those of you who are unaware of who this is, he is the current Brighton & Hove, manager. I know you are probably wondering why England fans want him to manage the Three Lions.
Believe it or not, the proof is in the pudding, he has turned Brighton into a fascinating team to watch. That is essentially all the England fans want to see, creating chance after chance and getting the most out of the players. Let’s not forget, that he has got the best out of Danny Wellbeck. I know a lot of you will be laughing at this but seriously. Just imagine what he could do with our current attacking options!
Anyway, this is yet to be seen and so, let’s give Southgate the respect he deserves for getting us to the Semi-Finals of a World Cup and the Euro Final. Let’s hope he surprises us all and if not, I guess England goes seeking something new. But this remains to be seen.
