Southgate must prove he deserves fans’ faith
England manager looking for a reaction after Hungary loss Strongest available line-up to be picked against Germany
England face Germany in the Nations League tonight, with Gareth Southgate accepting they could benefit from another Munich moment.
Given he has led England to a World Cup semi-final, to a European Championship final and has transformed the atmosphere around the team, then any substantive criticism of Southgate must still fall in the “what have the Romans done for us?” category of denunciation.
However, Southgate is not foolish and is aware of the murmurings of fan discontent and maybe, after six years as manager, a bit of fatigue around the familiar.
Defeat by England’s great rivals would make that chatter even louder amid a developing storyline over whether Southgate is tactically too conservative and is potentially in danger of holding back a talented young generation with the World Cup looming this year. A young generation he has not been afraid to blood, it must be said.
So, the criticism is harsh. Memories are short and, in some cases, ungrateful. People forget just how low England had gone when they were knocked out of the Euros in 2016 by Iceland and Roy Hodgson invited ridicule by declaring “I don’t know what I am doing here” at an uncomfortable exit press conference he conducted under duress.
Southgate has transformed England since then, and on every level, but this is elite sport and he is acutely aware of that and has certainly invited pressure, not just by the 1-0 defeat away by Hungary which kicked off this campaign and which clearly shocked him, but by the lacklustre nature of it.
That result represented only the second defeat – apart from the penalty shoot-out loss to Italy – in 28 games, only four of which were friendlies, but if England play against Germany like they did in Budapest they are inviting trouble.
The previous defeat was 2-0 away against Belgium in November 2020 and England have not suffered backto-back since losing three in a row in 2018 – the semi-final of the World Cup against Croatia, the third place play-off against Belgium and the inaugural Nations League fixture at home to Spain.
But that also came in the warm glow of finally going deep into a tournament and changing the dynamic around the team. Losing to Germany, and the nature of that loss should it happen, would not only
‘One of the challenges a couple of years ago was, could we win against the bigger teams?’
damage England’s prospects of getting through to the Nations League finals next year but sow seeds of doubt and halt momentum at a time when it needs to be growing.
And that is without considering who the opponents are. Some of Southgate’s young players may not regard Germany in the same way as he does but he is acutely aware of the importance of doing well against a nation he still regards – along with Brazil – as “the benchmarks for winning tournaments”.
Germany are often also the benchmarks for England and England managers. The high point for Sven-goran Eriksson? Unarguably it was the last time England played Germany in Munich, winning a World Cup qualifier 5-1 in 2001.
Southgate watched in awe from the substitutes bench although, as he ruefully pointed out, it was Germany who made the final of the World Cup the following year.
The low point for Eriksson’s predecessor, Kevin Keegan? The 1-0 loss to Germany in the rain of the last game at the old Wembley which also quickly became his last game as he resigned in the lavatories.
The low point for Fabio Capello? The 4-1 schooling from Germany at the 2010 World Cup in Bloemfontein when a team of veterans playing a ponderous 4-4-2 were knocked out of that tournament.
And the high point for Southgate? In his 71-game reign as England manager it also involved Germany – beating them 2-0 in the last 16 of last year’s Euros. Defeat and he and England would have failed and the criticism would have come down heavily upon him. Victory paved the way to the final. And all of this without mentioning 1966.
A Nations League tie does not have the heft of any of those previous meetings but fixtures against Germany, especially competitive ones, do still resonate and Southgate could benefit from a win and a convincing display just to steady the ship and calm nerves.
“I think it is a great measure,” he said, bullishly. “It won’t define where we are at in six months… But one of the challenges a couple years ago of the team was, we have got to a World Cup semi-final but could we win against the bigger teams? Since that we have won in Spain, we beat Belgium at Wembley, we beat Germany. So, we are starting to get those results and we have got to continue to do that.”
There are no grounds for complacency or excuses and it is telling that Southgate is expected – while promising to rotate his squad during this set of four qualifiers, with home games in Wolverhampton to come against Italy and Hungary – to go with his strongest available line-up in Munich.
He is not unaware. Suddenly he and England could benefit from that moment.