The perfect man to lead England through this bleak week
SOUTHGATE HASN’T WAVERED
SO the longest week of Gareth Southgate’s time as england coach is over and he emerges with credit.
Southgate will not care much about that and this is partly what makes him so suitable for one of the toughest football jobs of all.
ego can play no part when you are in charge of england. If you win, it is not you scoring the goals. If you lose, it will be you who pays the price. Some of those who have come before have not seemed to understand this. Worse, others have not seemed to care much.
In Southgate, england have the right man to lead them through this challenging football and political landscape.
On the field, his team are not perfect and he does not hide from this. At this juncture it is hard to see them winning next summer’s european Championship. they look about 20 per cent short.
But england continue to move forward under Southgate. the players have a united purpose, a firm idea of where they are trying to go and how.
If they do not go deep at euro 2020 it will be a surprise and for a nation starved, pre-Southgate, of tangible direction or progress, that would probably be enough.
As for the other stuff, we were lucky to have Southgate at the helm during this bleak week in Bulgaria. An intelligent, empathetic man, Southgate walked that fine line in Sofia on Monday between caring deeply about what he saw and not letting the emotion lead him to actions and words that could damage him or his country’s position.
Before, during and after the game, Southgate’s countenance was the same. Firm but measured. Passionate but logical. he never wavered. In the world of sport, that is rare. how important is the role of england manager? Maybe that depends on who is in the job. Southgate currently makes it feel fundamental.
A personal view is that it hasn’t always mattered particularly that the incumbent was english. Results and progress mattered. Suddenly, though, we are glad of Southgate’s innate englishness.
In these strange times, he does more than represent our football team, he represents us, too. that is very different and right now we need a bit of that.
As events unfolded at the Vasil Levski Stadium, we were comforted by the fact Southgate was making the decisions and doing the leading and the talking.
In 2011 in the same city, england players suffered similar abuse, only for their manager Fabio Capello to turn a metaphorical deaf ear to the issue. the current boss was never going to do that.
Southgate’s england players appreciate his pastoral style. No grand gestures or slogans but mature, instructive guidance.
he was prepared to make the biggest call of all in Sofia, to lead his players off the field and home before the game was done. that would have made him a hero in the eyes of many.
But for him the better option was to take his cue from those suffering. If Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and tyrone Mings felt willing and able to play on, then he would let them.
At half-time, when he feared the game would not go the 90 minutes, he listened and watched and when he sent them back out to resume it felt like the right decision.
You can tell a lot about a coach by his results but also by the conduct of his players.
So, although we see much of Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino in this england team, we see plenty of Southgate too.
During the game, england were impeccable in attitude and application. there was never any let-up in their football, never an attempt to seek retribution through anything but goals. they received just one yellow card.
the provocation in the 15 minutes before half-time was at its most extreme but there was only intense focus. During that awful spell, they scored two goals and that tells us much.
even the most well-prepared football manager relies on instinct when the stakes are highest.
But Southgate is one of those who can smell what’s in the wind. he knew what was coming long before his squad reached Bulgaria. he was ready, as were his players.
None of this would matter that much if he couldn’t coach. When he got the job after Sam Allardyce, I felt he was the wrong choice.
Referencing a modest club record, I thought Southgate was getting the job by default. that now seems a misjudgment.
he has been bolder and more imaginative than I anticipated. he has had the courage to shape the role in his own image.
he does not see himself only as the coach of the senior team but as a figurehead for all levels.
I am still not convinced the england manager always needs to be english. But maybe we should be grateful that we have this particular englishman.