Gareth truly is carrying hopes of the nation
As far as the English public are concerned, this World Cup could be the last-chance saloon.
Interest in the national team, and the international game in general, is in steep decline.
It’s come about because successive failures at tournaments have coincided with the rise in the importance of the Premier and Champions Leagues.
Qualifiers are won routinely and raise little interest. Friendlies are essentially meaningless, however attractive the opposition.
General apathy reigns over the upcoming European Nations League. Confusion over the format hasn’t exactly generated enthusiasm.
Hands up all those who even know who’s in England’s group!
No, the only thing that sparks a bit of fire is a tournament. Everything else is irrelevant.
If England flop, for what effectively will be the tenth tournament on the trot, everything else is going to become an increasingly harder sell.
The FA might have to give away tickets to the friendlies against Switzerland and USA in the autumn. Oh, sorry, did you not know those games were on? Under Gareth Southgate’s tenure, the fans have come back onside to the extent that there appears to be the beginnings of a more-measured, tolerant relationship between supporters and squad, rather than the extreme boom and bust of the past.
He’s barely put a foot wrong as he’s reconstructed a team damaged by the humiliation of Iceland and the embarrassing disruption of Sam Allardyce’s onematch tenure.
Slowly, patiently and intelligently, he has introduced new players, new tactics and a new mindset.
He and his whole squad have come across as more relaxed, more open and more adult than any of their recent predecessors.
Yet all that meticulous work could be blown apart in the next 24 hours.
We don’t yet know how robust Southgate’s new world order is, because it hasn’t suffered any major setbacks. And a setback at a World Cup is always magnified out of all proportion.
A defeat against Tunisia in Volgograd tomorrow could undo everything Southgate has done in a single sweep. Even a draw would bring instant deflation and “here we go again” conclusions.
We fervently hope the players will, at least, do themselves justice in Russia. But clearly there is a chance that England will underperform because that’s what they always do.
Even with reduced expectations, failure to get out of the group would end the current feelgood factor and reverse all the gains made under Southgate.
For once, then, maybe the clichés about “carrying the hopes of the nation” are accurate.
The whole future of international football in England may be dependent on this tournament.
No pressure, then, eh, Gareth?