When the going gets tough, Southgate’s men still go AWOL
TWELVE months, two managers and a dozen or so new players on from the humiliation of Iceland, England seem to have learned nothing.
The collective mental fragility that ran through that Euro 2016 performance like a stick of rock is still there in all its troubling glory.
At the midway point between major tournaments, there is not a glimmer of a suggestion that Gareth Southgate has made his players any tougher than Roy Hodgson did.
So, as it stands, meltdown in France in midweek is likely to be followed by meltdown in Russia next summer.
Southgate identified the core issue on his first day in the job. Alas, spotting the problem and fixing it are proving two different things.
In fairness to him, he has tried all manner of ideas to engender squad spirit and give his players some backbone.
He’s swapped the armband around to share out the responsibility, brought in England rugby coach Eddie Jones to give them lectures, and had his players dunked in dirty water by the Royal Marines.
Harry Kane, John Stones, Dele Alli & Co. might now know how to survive a night in a tent, but they still don’t know how to think on their feet on a football field.
Before anyone points to the magnificent, character-fuelled, stoppage-time comeback against Scotland, let’s not forget that they were winning with five minutes left and somehow contrived to concede two identical goals before Kane cashed in on some lax defending.
The second half against France spelled out exactly where England stand. They had a man advantage for 44 minutes – and hadn’t a clue what to do with it.
They ended up being played off the park and were lucky not to have lost 5-2 instead of just 3-2.
If Southgate had been tempted to claim that progress had been made, that second half in France provided a very wet blanket.
The three games he’s won have all been at home – to Malta, Scotland and Lithuania.
He drew his away qualifiers against Slovenia and the Scots, lost two friendlies and drew the other after being two-up with a minute to go.
There’s no evidence amongst that lot of an improvement in mentality. When the going gets tough, England still go missing.
There are still no leaders, no on-field tacticians, no players with any sense of game management.
In addition, after eight games in charge, Southgate seems to be further away from knowing his strongest team than he was when took over from Sam Allardyce.
Kane and Alli would be in his first XI, as would Gary Cahill. No one else comes close to being a shoo-in, even Joe Hart whom Southgate insists is still his No.1.
His three other keepers – Jack Butland, Tom Heaton and Fraser Forster – have closed the gap on Hart and by next summer £30m Jordan Pickford could also be in the mix.
His best right-back could be Nathaniel Clyne, Kieran Trippier or Kyle Walker. On the left, it could be Danny Rose, Ryan Bertrand or Aaron Cresswell.
Cahill’s central defensive partner might be Phil Jones, John Stones, Chris Smalling or Michael Keane.
Maybe it would be two of them because Southgate has yet to decide on three or four at the back.
In the absence of Jordan Henderson, the midfield has looked seriously lightweight.
In Paris, Eric Dier and Alex OxladeChamberlain versus Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante was a ridiculous mis-match.
Southgate has tried Jake Livermore, Ross Barkley and James Ward-Prowse, but the pool is shallow.
Further forward, Kane is now the main man but Southgate isn’t close to working out who supports him and how.
Alli will play somewhere. But the other forward positions might go to Marcus Rashford, Jamie Vardy, Raheem Sterling, Adam Lallana, Jesse Lingard, Daniel Sturridge, Jermain Defoe or – whisper his name – even Wayne Rooney.
As always, Southgate’s choices will be dictated by how much game-time club managers give to his squad next season.
In many cases, that might not be much.