Gareth is still Lions king
SOUTHGATE WON’T PAY PRICE FOR NATIONS FLOP
ENGLAND will keep the faith with Gareth Southgate – I’d be more shocked if he was sacked than if Pep Guardiola left Manchester City.
I’d be flabbergasted if Gareth loses his job now. He deserves to take us to the World Cup. He has earned the right.
He’s taken us to the semi-finals of the World Cup and the final of the Euros in the last two major tournaments.
It’s a bit harsh to be calling for him to go just because of what’s happened in the Nations League.
England’s season starts in November. It’s no good winning these games now and going out of our group in the World Cup.
That’s when the real job starts. That’s when the manager will be judged.
Do you even remember who won the Nations League last year? Nobody cares.
These games were too much for the players. The Nations League was a nice novelty at first when we were starved of football because of lockdowns.
But now it’s just a waste of time. We’ve got a World Cup in November and are still playing football in the middle of June. Madness.
Everybody wants to play for England but you’ve got to look at the all-round picture.
And we won’t be going to Wolverhampton again in a hurry, will we? Not after the way the crowd responded. I don’t think that helps at all.
I’m not panicking. This has been a wake-up call, nothing else.
Gareth needs to stop listening to the man in the stands and trying to entertain everybody.
By the end of the Hungary game he had every attacking player he could find on the pitch and we just got overrun.
Play your way, Gareth. You’re only going to be in the job for a certain period of time. Do it your way.
I think he listened too much to the fans who wanted him to stop being negative and go out and attack teams.
That’s why I don’t think that Hungary game was a bad result for him in many ways. He can say, ‘I told you so. Look what happens when we open a game up. We get beat.’
I think a lot of people are holding a grudge against him from the Euros when we were leading against Italy and went too defensive when we should have gone for the jugular.
They were on the ropes and we missed our chance. He should have gone for it. And people are still holding it against him. That’s what people are remembering. That’s why they don’t like Gareth Southgate any more.
Getting pummelled by Hungary, I think they need to realise they’re not as good as they thought they were.
You’ve got to work hard, listen to the manager and play the manager’s way. If you do that, he will bring you success.
To do what Gareth has done at the last two tournaments is some going. I don’t care what anyone says.
The only mistake Gareth has made over these last few games is picking so many players who are guaranteed to go to Qatar.
By playing Harry Kane and everyone else who has a zillion caps, he’s put pressure on himself, because England have put out strong, experienced sides and got beat.
He could have avoided it if he’d thrown out a squad full of youngsters and fringe players and sent his key players home to have a rest.
But calling for him to lose his job is over the top. He can turn it around in time for the World Cup. One hundred per cent.