Gareth Southgate - Time For A Change?

Gareth Southgate is the 2nd most successful England manager of all time, but having still not won anything after 3 major tournaments, is this really good enough?

Every week in the Premier League pressure and scrutiny follows top flight managers and clubs in relation to winning Trophies and finishing inside the top 4 league spaces. It could be argued that a nation like England has become so accustomed to failure that there is a distinct lack of pressure on the nation to achieve success and win things.

But what exactly is success for England? In recent years it seems we have become quite satisfied just to be competing in the knockout phases and coming second best in ‘50-50 games’ with the great nations such as France, according to Gary Neville.

Credit is due for Southgate however, he has rejuvenated the England camp and the nation’s relationship with the team. He has even got large portions of the nation believing again. However, with such a talented squad, we are still falling at the final hurdle.

Who is to blame? Is it Southgate, the players, or is the national team seemingly destined to continue producing golden generations of talent who fail to deliver when it really matters?

Let's look at Southgate’s key moments during his England reign to really assess his tenure and whether he is the right man to take us forward and ultimately win things, as I believe this is what we must be striving to do, not just settling for 2nd place and semi-finals.

World Cup 2018 Verdict: Overachievement

England at the 2018 World Cup. Image: The Telegraph

This was a great success for England, who had recently failed to progress past the World Cup group stages or even past the Last 16 of Euro 2016. England at the time were not the most talented squad and were in a transition period. The loss to Croatia was the first murmurs of a ‘tactical ineptness’ as many fans have attached Southgate’s name to in recent times.

Overall, I give the benefit of the doubt to Southgate here. It was the start of the nation falling in love with England again, and for a good hour vs Croatia, England were beginning to dream. This dream would go even further in Euro 2020…

Euro 2020 Verdict: A Huge Opportunity Missed

Southgate consoles Saka after England lose on penalties to Italy. Image: The Independent

Any England fan would of snapped your hand off should you have offered them a place in the final of Euro 2020, but given England’s route to the final, you would thoroughly have expected them to get there.

A win is a win, but fans were growing tired of Southgate’s somewhat pessimistic 5 at the back approach despite having a strong attacking squad. At times it felt as though we were stumbling over the line, but it’s the result that matters in knock-out football.

Sadly for England, the result ended in heartbreak vs Italy, especially since taking the lead against them in the opening minute of the final. Italy, although good, were not great in the game and I feel it was a huge opportunity missed.

Having scored in the first 60 seconds, England didn’t have a single shot on target for the rest of the game. If you’re going to go out of a knockout tournament, you go out with a bang, not with a whimper. It seemed as though Gareth was all too happy to leave the game in the hands of penalties, something England having statistically always been poor at.

So whilst England were given another chance to dream of finally winning silverware again, there was a growing frustration that Southgate might not have what it takes to take England all the way, and this being in part due to being too cautious in his tactical approach to games.

World Cup 2022 Verdict: Disappointing, But Not Surprised

England narrowly lose to France in the 2022 World Cup Quarter Final. Image: ABC

This was the tournament that I felt Southgate could take us further. He ditched the 5 at the back, playing a 4321 / 433 which allowed an extra attacking player. In came a rotation of Foden, Saka and Rashford as well as a debut for Bellingham who offers much more going forward than the likes of Kalvin Phillips.

11 goals from the first 4 games was a good sign that Southgate was beginning to be more adventurous, but now the challenge of playing reigning world champions, France…

This was a 50-50, even if France were slight favourites. If there was ever a chance for England and Southgate to prove they were a top, top nation, this was it. But we failed, against a top nation, in a 50-50 game, yet again.

Disappointed, but not surprised. We played okay, but we didn’t exactly play better than France. We got the game back to 1-1, and this was a great opportunity to substitute yellow carded Jordan Henderson and bring on an attacking player such as Grealish or Mount to go from 4231 to a more attacking 433 whilst momentum was on our side.

What happened? Mount did eventually come on for Henderson, but it was too late… England were 2-1 down, there was about 15 minutes of the game left to go.

Mount went on to make a good impact but it was all too late. Why didn’t we truly go for it at 1-1 having just scored? Gary Neville and a few other pundits seemed quite content that we ‘matched’ France and came out 2nd best in a 50-50 game. This is a surprising take from a player who was part of a winning machine at Manchester United, and is not an attitude I think is necessary if England are going to go from the ‘nearly men’ to actually winning silverware.

Final Verdict: Time For Something New

Perhaps I am being harsh, but after 3 major tournaments, some good runs, but continuously failing against the top nations, I believe it’s time that England allow a more experienced manager a go at the realm.

What do you guys think? Please leave you comments down below. Would you keep Southgate? If not, who would be your choice as next England manager?