Southgate will fight the fear
GARETH SOUTHGATE says he will not “manage in fear” even though England stand on the brink of a 146-year low with a fourth consecutive defeat.
Just two months ago the nation believed England had one foot in the World Cup final. Semi-final defeat by Croatia rolled into a loss to Belgium in the third-place play-off, before a setback against Spain added to the list in the first game of the new season.
England – set to face a Switzerland side ranked eighth in the world and heading to the King Power Stadium after a 6-0 thrashing of Iceland – have never lost four international matches in a row.
Yet Southgate is prepared to stick to his guns and play the kids.
In truth, there should be few concerns about statistical anomalies when Southgate has a World Cup semi-final tucked so recently in his waistcoat pocket. Thankfully, though, he does not care about that.
“I’m under no illusions that the currency from the World Cup won’t last very long at all. That’s if it has, beyond Saturday,” Southgate said. “But I can’t let that affect my thinking. I’ve said over the previous 18 months I’ve got to make decisions that I think are the right ones and not manage in fear and not make decisions that are short-term at this point.
“The fans will understandably react to whatever results and performances we have and I’m aware of that, but I’ve also got to be strong enough to stick to the beliefs of the way we want to play and give the team that belief and focus on the things we can control.
“I will have to live with whatever people want to say about my record – relegations and whatever else fits the bill. But I’m comfortable in my own skin. The priority is not me, it’s developing the England team. I’ve got to keep a clear mind on what are the real objectives, and in the end you’ll be judged on what happens in the major championships.”
It is clear that, still in its infancy, the UEFA Nations League is struggling to be taken seriously.
Southgate was sat in a classroom in the bowels of the King Power Stadium with a giant poster of local hero Jamie Vardy hung above him – currently retired from international football, barring an emergency. Fighting against relegation in the Nations League clearly does not qualify as one.
Southgate said: “He won’t play over the next few months because we have to invest in Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck, Jesse Lingard, Dele Alli, the younger ones. If we get to the European Championship qualifiers and we think there’s a situation where we feel Jamie would come in and play, then it might be different. But in this period, we’re determined to invest in some of those younger guys.”
And yet with Harry Kane desperately needing tonight’s rest, Southgate has only two
strikers at his disposal, Rashford and Welbeck, with the former having limped off against Spain.
Except that’s not quite true. Four games into the Premier League season, Glenn Murray, Troy Deeney, Danny Ings and Theo Walcott have scored nine goals between them.
“There’s obviously some older ones who have good goalscoring records at club level but I’m not sure that’s necessarily the route we want to go,” said Southgate. “We’re hopeful that a couple of the younger ones will start to get games and develop.”
Again, the focus is very much on the long term. Until, that is, the subject of Southgate’s own future is back on the agenda.
He neatly sidestepped any questions about contract talks, but having drawn the parallel with the young Germany side who emerged from the 2006 World Cup to win the trophy in 2014, he has to recognise manager Joachim Low was with them the whole way.
If England fans are to cut Southgate slack over results in the short term, they need to be reassured they are investing in somebody willing to steer the nation for the long haul.
But that is still not quite what Southgate is promising. “I will always manage the team as if I am going to be there forever,” he said. “The best nations who have done well have had long-term thinking.”
Maybe suffer an unwanted slice of history tonight; but perhaps enjoy a more glorious future as a result.
The priority is developing the younger players