Southgate exit may not solve England woes

THE knives are out and being sharpened for Gareth Southgate.

Those same people who used to slap him on the back are now poised to stab him in it.

This is how the world of being the England manager tends to work.

In the space of 14 months Southgate has somehow gone from being a national treasure to someone no longer trusted to lead England into the World Cup in Qatar in November.

People believe Southgate has run out of ideas. That he’s wasting the talent at his disposal due to a conservative approach. That his team peaked at last summer’s Euros.

He used to be the side’s saviour, but is now considered its weak point and, irrespective of the result against the Germans tonight, it feels like the beginning of the end for someone the record books still show to be the second most successful manager England has ever had.

Blind

Some of the above might well be true, because Bukayo Saka is wasted at wing-back, Trent AlexanderArnold has to be found a role in the side somewhere, Southgate remains obsessed with Raheem Sterling and has a blind spot when it comes to

Harry Maguire.

But let’s take a moment to breathe and consider the bigger picture.

Southgate hasn’t underachieved, he’s overachieved in taking England to the semis and final of the last two major tournaments.

Other managers before him have had more quality but achieved less. Do

Maguire and John

Stones compare to Rio Ferdinand and John

Terry? No. Are Jordan Henderson and Declan

Rice as good as Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard were? No.

Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard were part of the side that helped England reach the last four in Russia in 2018.

And while we might have gone five games without a win, whose to say England will not turn it on come November? There is no such thing as international form, because games can be months apart.

So let’s be frank, if Southgate is now the problem then what is the solution?

Should England tank like the pound in Qatar, the FA will have little choice but to make the call they don’t want to.

That’s provided Southgate doesn’t walk.

Club

And even if England reach the last four, which has to be the minimum requirement, or achieve the unthinkable but improbable, Southgate could still call time on a tenure which will have exceeded six years, knowing his chances of landing that big club job he continues to crave will never be greater.

But if the FA remain determined to appoint a homegrown successor, the pool to pick from is shockingly shallow.

Graham Potter has just gone to Chelsea, Lampard and Gerrard have done nothing to justify being given the toughest job of all, Eddie Howe jumped into bed with the Saudis and Brendan Rodgers is managing a side rock-bottom of the Premier League. Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have better things to do and the available Mauricio Pochettino would be too expensive, and the prospect of an Argentinean bossing England is absurd.

So, Southgate remains the best option England have.