Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
364 DAYS TO MAKE THE LIONS ROAR
Southgate knows he has it all to do before World Cup
GARETH SOUTHGATE has reminded fans there is no “magic wand” to turn England’s journeymen into world-beaters. For the first time in his eight-game tenure as interim and permanent manager, Southgate seemed rattled by the beating in Paris. In the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s horror show, the England manager scrambled for the odd positive. But, reflecting further, it was obvious he was extremely unhappy and concerned with how 10-man France gave his team the runaround. Southgate also has to face up to the first bout of serious scrutiny during his short career as a senior international boss. Of his eight matches in charge, only three have been won and those victories came against teams ranked 182nd, 61st and 104th in the world. With only successes against Malta, Scotland and Lithuania on his record, it has hardly been a flying start and the latest performance appeared to unsettle Southgate most. “I am afraid there is no magic wand,” he declared. “We’ve got some young players coming through that have got really good potential, but there is no shortcut. That’s the reality of where we are as a country.” While there may have been mitigating factors for England’s ineptitude after Raphael Varane’s dismissal, Southgate did not reach for them. “You can’t sugarcoat what happened in the final 30 minutes,” he said. “That was the opportunity to dominate the ball and really make them work and we didn’t. “The players must recognise when you have an opportunity to get a really good result.” After a draw with Spain and defeats in Germany and France, Southgate is happy to carry on facing high-quality opposition in friendlies, prior to next summer’s World Cup finals, and Germany are pencilled in for a visit to Wembley in November. But he admits comparisons invited by games like the one at the Stade de France only underline the gap between England and the major nations. “One of the reasons for playing Germany, Spain and France is you must get everything spot on to get a result,” he said. “We’ve been competitive in all three games for long periods of time, but I think we’ve had to play at our absolute limit to stay in all three of the matches. “I know where we are, as a
team, and the hard work that lies ahead to try and bridge the gap between us and the three teams we’re speaking about.” The immediate work for Southgate, who will go to this summer’s Under-21 European Championships and will also take in the Confederations Cup, will be to confirm qualification for Russia 2018 in the remaining four fixtures. Next up is a trip to Malta on September 1, followed by home games against Slovakia and Slovenia before finishing with a trip to Lithuania. A place in the finals should still be a formality, but Southgate knows that is when the difficulties usually start. When it was put to him that England’s flimsiness against France was hardly unfamiliar, he said: “Well, it’s a big challenge then, isn’t it?” It certainly is, but maybe even Southgate did not realise it was this big.