Regardless of the outcome, Gareth Southgate will always be regarded as the manager who restored optimism for England.
Ignore the critics; the 53-year-old has brought the Three Lions together as a divided country and is the finest coach the team has had in 50 years.
Gareth Southgate may be described as measured, courteous, intelligent, and soft-spoken. attributes that everyone would want to be connected to. However, everytime the England manager’s name is mentioned, it seems to incite mockery.
Consider the outcry that followed the news that he was being considered to be the next manager of Manchester United. Consider the reaction of some journalists and commentators after England lost to France in the most recent World Cup.
In some circles, the name of Southgate elicits the same level of ire as that of Donald Trump. Those who have played for him or worked with him, however, respond considerably differently.
To those who have direct experience with Southgate, he is a uniter. He is precisely the kind of leader that England’s football team needs in a nation as divided as its own. He should thus be regarded as the manager who restored hope to the nation, regardless of what happens at Euro 2024.
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Decade of failure
Reminding the detractors of Southgate’s leadership of the team’s success in the ten years prior to his odd appointment in the fall of 2016 is the simplest way to appease them.
Sven-Goran Eriksson’s ‘Golden Generation’ lost to Portugal in the World Cup quarterfinals in 2006 due to penalties. It was seen as a massive disaster at the time, but it would soon be considered as quite an accomplishment when England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 under Steve McLaren’s leadership, less than a year later.
They placed second in a group that The Sun newspaper had labeled as “EASY” in the 2010 World Cup, under the coaching of Champions League victor Fabio Capello. In the round of sixteen, they were crushed 4-1 by Germany. Under Roy Hodgson, they lost to Italy in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Euro and came last in their group in the subsequent World Cup.
In Euro 2016, under Hodgson’s continued management despite his past setbacks, they were taken aback by little Iceland and eliminated in the round of 16.
