GARETH’S WONDROUS JOURNEY
Southgate wasn’t listening when they said Russia was too soon
He invited us to dream the impossible dream
THE clock that hangs in an FA office will continue to count down to the 2022 World Cup, marking the time when the organisation had looked to travel to a major tournament more in expectation than hope.
But once the bitter disappointment of this defeat by Croatia has subsided, England can take the positives from a World Cup semifinal they led for more than an hour and savour the moment when Gareth Southgate and a side that was so much greater than the sum of its parts invited us to dream the impossible dream — to dare think that, after more than half a century of hurt, football might indeed be coming home now, in 2018.
Gary Lineker told them to forget this World Cup, sharing the view that was part of the FA’s grand plan when they identified a winter tournament in Qatar as England’s target.
Southgate, however, was not listening. He had different ideas, rolling up his sleeves way before he pulled on his World Cup waistcoat and convincing his young players to trust him when he told them that they could be contenders, believe him when he said that this, not some faraway event in air- conditioned stadiums in the Middle East, was worth a proper crack.
Persuading them to share in his vision, in a plan devised over a meal in Sochi with his super-smart assistant Steve Holland, is perhaps Southgate’s greatest achievement thus far.
After all, he did not boast the record of the men the FA had tried in the past to make their manager. He was not Jose Mourinho, he was not Arsene Wenger. On paper he was not even Sam Allardyce.
But here in Russia he has grown immeasurably in stature, standing as tall as Spartacus outside the Spartak Stadium.
He cut the figure of a man who, in the eyes of his England players as well as many supporters, has achieved a higher status than any coach the FA might have considered before him.
To the players he is not just their manager but their mentor, guide and saviour and they have bought into his philosophy as well as his football.
By the time they collapsed to the ground at the sound of the final whistle, some in tears, they had given their all for Southgate.
And although they lost to sharper, more savvy opponents, they saved the best football of their tournament for the biggest game of their lives. Even if it was for little more than 30 minutes — a spell they will reflect on as much for the opportunities that they squandered. But remember where they came from. Remember that day in Chantilly only two years ago when Roy Hodgson had to be forced to reflect on a defeat by Iceland — a broken man who had just walked away from a broken team claiming there was now ‘a major bridge to repair’.
Allardyce was invited to begin the process but it was South gate who emerged as the architect of the England rebuilding project.
Evolution came before revolution, Southgate and Holland making the minor changes that guaranteed passage to the 2018 finals before tearing up a very English blueprint and starting again. It wasn’t just a change in formation but a change in culture and attitude. Out on the pitch last night we saw the product of Southgate’s graft and craft, not least in the form of players like Kieran Trippier, Harry Maguire and Jordan Pickford. They typify the narrative of Southgate’s England with their journey from the lower echelons of the English game to the grandest stage of all. What a journey it has been. From Harry Kane’s stoppagetime winner against Tunisia to Jesse Lingard’s wonder- goal against Panama. From Pickford’s penalty save against Colombia to Eric Dier’s ice- cold heroics moments later. Then Maguire’s towering header against Sweden and the quite wonderful free-kick from Trippier in this semi-final. Not bad for a lad from Bury.
It meant England were ahead for 63 minutes, until Ivan Perisic crowned an impressive individual performance with a superbly taken equaliser that took this contest into extra time.
Faced with another 30 minutes of battle, Southgate addressed his players once more, going first to John Stones and then to Ashley Young, Kane, Kyle Walker and Jordan Henderson. He urged them to keep their shape, remain composed, stick to the plan. But one momentary lapse in concentration from John Stones, who had not put a foot wrong in six matches, saw Mario Mandzukic condemn an England side who were dead on their feet to a crushing, cruel defeat.
For Southgate, however, his international career is no longer defined by that penalty miss at Euro 96. It is defined by what he achieved in this crazy, bone- dry summer and by what he has made seem possible.
England’s journey does not finish here, even if the last thing anyone wants is another meaningless encounter with Belgium. It continues way beyond that. It continues with the development of this side, with the promotion of young players already claiming major prizes for England’s junior teams and a push towards Euro 2020 and a possible final at Wembley.
And it continues, surely, to the next World Cup.
The clock is already counting down, but it does so now with Southgate and his players moving forward together.