“One more.” Gareth Southgate had yelled those words after England’s semi-final win at Euro 2024. But that last step remains the most difficult. After defeat to Spain in the final of Euro 2024, it is reasonable to ask whether he was capable of ever taking it.
England were undeniably close in Berlin, Mikel Oyarzabal’s winner coming in the 86th minute. But a hard-luck story? It would be harder to make the case for Southgate’s side deserving it given the teams’ relative routes to the final and their performances in it.
Spain had 16 shots to England’s nine and 65.1 per cent of the possession in a game that they led for much of the second half and were never behind in. Southgate’s side had their moments. There have been a lot of them this summer. But no control whatsoever.
Southgate’s reign in perspective
For some, sympathy will be in short supply. But history will treat Southgate’s time more kindly than the headlines, or indeed the conversations in homes, pubs and offices in these coming days. Take a step back and the man who confirmed his departure just two days after the defeat to Spain delivered far more than those before him.
The memorable run to the World Cup semi-final. The first ever European Championship final when only penalties separated England from glory. This first major final on foreign soil. As many knockout-stage victories as every manager before him combined.
The quarter-final was as far as Sven Goran Eriksson made it with the Golden Generation and further than Fabio Capello managed. Sir Bobby Robson and Graham Taylor endured failures to qualify for tournaments. Roy Hodgson suffered humiliation when he did.
This was the world Southgate inherited. He was the company man in 2016, the safe pair of hands after Sam Allardyce was deemed to have embarrassed those in charge. They anticipated a steadying of the ship but Southgate set England on a new course instead.
His cultural reset achieved the impossible. For a time, he made watching England fun again. Others had done that too. Making playing for England fun? That was new. Southgate managed it, reframing the national team experience for a new generation.
It has ended in disappointment again this time. It always does. But the Southgate era has also been about waistcoats and songs, golden boots and golden summers, Harry Maguire memes and inflatable unicorns. England even went to a World Cup and won a penalty shoot-out.
That is worth remembering. This is the end, but it arrives with Southgate having more than once come the closest to ending that craving for a repeat of 1966, a longing that has become a national psychodrama. The most successful since Sir Alf Ramsey? No debate.
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Fan parks erupted around the country when Cole Palmer scored the equaliser
Many supporters might consider it an irrelevance that Southgate has been such an ambassador. It is not. When he chose the right words after his players were racially abused in Bulgaria and Hungary, it mattered. That leadership was truly important.
Against Bulgaria in Sofia, Southgate’s England became the first international team to stop a football match in response to racist abuse. “I felt we sent a strong message and we sent a positive message,” he said later. “We care for each other. We are united.”
That unity is something to take pride in, something for which the country should be grateful for. It was facilitated in part because of the emotional intelligence of the England manager. There is more to this particular job than just football tactics.
Unfortunately, there is also more to it than statesmanship. On the eve of the Euro 2024 final, one journalist out in Berlin lauded the manager by stating that if the team could play as well as he talked, they would be fine. But Southgate is responsible for both.
Biggest weakness cost him
He was undoubtedly experienced at navigating the many unique challenges of the international job. But unlike many to have taken the role, there was always a sense that the period between the first whistle and the last was what he found most difficult.
Gary Neville has rightly pointed out that Southgate is a veteran of tournament play, someone who has now seen a wide variety of scenarios play out on that most glaring of stages. When individual matches have their own Wikipedia page, the scrutiny is intense.
In that context, it is surprising to think that even after eight years in the job, the bulk of Southgate’s match experience as a manager has come at Middlesbrough, a job from which he was relieved of his duties almost 15 years ago. Such is international football.
The Switzerland game brought up his century with England. For comparison, Erik ten Hag passed that mark at Manchester United late in his second season. Russell Martin, just 38, will likely have managed more senior games in total before the year is out.
It might help to explain why the in-game management sometimes seemed to be a struggle. Southgate is a studious fellow, doing his homework with the diligence of a Ryder Cup captain considering his pairings and studying the course history for clues.
He once commissioned a report into how past tournaments had been won. One of the chief takeaways from that report was the importance of defensive solidity, Didier Deschamps’ work with France seen as a template for success in international football.
The limitation, of course, is that this reveals how to win the last tournament not the next one. Analysing the historical value of clean sheets has its merits but it is not quite the same as coming up with a unique vision of your own. Perspiration over inspiration?
Smelling it in real time as the clock ticks is a particular skill. Whether instinct or experience, it was lacking in some key moments. Parallels between two of the biggest games, in 2018 against Croatia and the 2021 final against Italy, are irresistible.
On each occasion, the dream early goal. On each occasion, the failure to press home the advantage. Inertia on the touchline, almost waiting for the equaliser to go in before making changes. And then, the inability to alter the flow of the contest thereafter.
Failing final test again in Germany
At Euro 2024, it was a little different. Both the semi-final and the final featured goals by Southgate substitutes – Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer, respectively. Unfortunately, it only seemed to add to the sense that he had found the squad just not the formula.
Tactically, Southgate hit upon a plan that worked in Russia, the switch to a back three proving a masterstroke. At Euro 2020, he had the confidence to flit between systems, deploying it to beat Germany in the last 16 after using a back four in the group stage.
At Euro 2024, for all the individual talent available, the big idea never really did emerge. It was a conundrum that he could not solve, with the fitness levels of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham casting something of a shadow. Southgate could not find synergy.
Still, he retained the support of his squad throughout, something that reveals the unity. Declan Rice spoke for most within the camp when saying that these England players would do anything to protect this manager. “I feel sorry for Gareth,” declared Phil Foden.
Their frustration at the external forces never did transfer to their coach – it may be decades before the tell-all books come out. But the thought persists: Southgate had a squad that was capable of winning and he did not quite unlock that full potential.
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Aaron McLean reacts to England being denied on the line again and again by Spain
If these players really are high quality – and most have the trophies, individual and collective, to suggest they are – why could they not do it? If these players really are working hard and are together as a group, why did it too often become a struggle?
Watching England’s players chase the ball in vain before retreating back into their shape, it was all too tempting to conclude that they simply could not compete with a team like Spain in possession. But why is that? Should this deficit just be accepted?
It was the opposition that lost the player of the tournament at half-time in the final. On came 25-year-old Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad for his ninth international cap to control the game, completing more passes than any England player in that second half.
These are familiar failings for this national side but harder to explain now that half the outfield starters play their club football for either Pep Guardiola or Mikel Arteta. That is before those superstars from Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are even considered.
And still, there is the sight of the goalkeeper booting the ball long from the kick-off, the awkwardness when attempting to pass out from the back, and the wheezing frames at the final whistle, exhausted after getting the run around on the big stage once again.
Those limitations are part of the Southgate story now. But only part of it. Management is in the details. But while Southgate will be remembered with frustration for getting the little things wrong, he will also be recalled with fondness for the big things he got right.
England will hope the next manager – whenever that may be – will be better in some aspects, but they will know that he or she is sure to be worse in others. Ultimately, Southgate fell short. But did he squander this generation of talent? It is just as easy to argue that he helped create it.