Sunday, December 22, 2024

Gareth Southgate says ‘now not the time’ to decide his future

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England manager Gareth Southgate says “now is not the time” to make a decision on his future.

The Three Lions were beaten 2-1 by Spain in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin on Sunday.

Southgate, 53, has been in charge since 2016 but his current contract is due to expire in December.

Asked about his future, Southgate told the BBC: “Now is not the time for me to speak about that. I need to talk to the right people and give myself a bit of time.

“To get to another final… it was a privilege to have the opportunity. But to come up short is hard at the moment.”

Under Southgate, England have reached back-to-back European finals as well as the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the last eight of the 2022 World Cup.

He faced criticism in Germany this month despite England progressing to the knockout stages as group winners.

Plastic cups were aimed at Southgate by supporters following their 0-0 draw with Slovenia in the group stage.

“The players will take enormous credit for getting us to where we did but when you’re as close as that, you have to take your chance,” Southgate told ITV.

“They have represented the shirt with pride and haven’t been beaten until the very end. I just think Spain had more control of the game.

“England are in a really good position in terms of the experience they have. Most of this squad will be around for the next World Cup and maybe the next Euros.

“There’s a lot to look forward to but at this moment, it’s not any consolation.”

Southgate admitted it was “hard to reflect” on his eight years in charge but has no doubts England can be successful in future major tournaments.

“Of course to take England to two finals has never been done but we came here to win and we haven’t been able to do that,” he added.

“England have some fabulous players. We have been consistently back in the matches that matter. It’s the last step we haven’t been able to do.”

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