Qatar trip hints Southgate is in for long haul

GARETH SOUTHGATE will embark on a fact-finding mission to Qatar next month — a move signalling the England manager’s intention to remain in charge beyond Euro 2020.

The 49-year- old will fly out to Qatar to monitor Liverpool’s progress at the Club World Cup, a trip that provides Southgate with an opportunity to keep tabs on his players ahead of next summer’s European Championship.

But December’s jaunt will also enable the England boss to gather valuable information for his team’s shot at glory at the next World Cup, which will be held in Qatar in 2022.

The trip also provides the strongest indication yet that Southgate plans to lead England to that World Cup, despite talk of an eventual return to club management.

‘I’m actually going to go to Qatar to watch some of Liverpool’s games, but also, it’s exactly the time the World Cup will be played there,’ said Southgate.

‘So the climate will be ideal to get a feel of, and pinpoint a couple of camps that we would stay in.’

When asked if the visit means he is planning to take charge of what would be his second World Cup, Southgate replied: ‘Well, that will depend very much on how we get on next summer.

‘When you have a week like we’ve had, you sense that people can fall out of love with you and if there isn’t a warmth for you to continue, then that can start to affect the team. So, I’m realistic about how quickly tides can turn. But we’ve always planned short, mid and long- term over the last eight years.

‘I think when I started and we looked at other federations, we were almost embarrassed to go and look at where we should be preparing for.

‘And Germany were always there and they’d already secured the best hotel. So I think we’ve had to be a bit bolder and say, ‘‘No, look, it’s not a jinx to go and do it’’.

‘We’ve got to have belief in what we’re doing and execute the right preparation, without taking any focus off what we’re doing next summer, we’ve got to get the next bit right, otherwise we’ll be behind the curve. I think the best organisations get that short, mid and long-term planning right.’

One of Southgate’s main concerns heading into the Euros will be players having peripheral roles at their clubs. Harry Winks, Joe Gomez and John Stones are three who could struggle to feature regularly in the Premier League.

But Southgate, who will resist the temptation of calling his squad together before the next international in March, said: ‘There will be such a big volume of matches, in particular, with the Champions League clubs.

‘So I think they’re going to get their football. The key will be how many of the big matches they can play in, which determines a little bit the evidence that you can see of their form and their ability to perform under pressure.

‘You might take a risk on one or two players in the knowledge that there’s going to be a limit to how many minutes they can provide but one of the big things we learned from the World Cup was that seven games was a test of physical endurance.

‘We didn’t know that before because we’d never got to those stages.

‘So that’s the learning we haven’t got to wait for but it does emphasise the physical demands of the tournament.’