Southgate lacks time in which to play mind games
THEY have camped with the Royal Marines on Woodbury Common, they have sat round a virtual camp fire and shared their most vulnerable life moments and they have had mood experts in to transform St George’s Park to get England mentally right for the Euros in 2021.
Yet now, for this England team, whose biggest asset seems to be a team spirit abundantly missing from more golden generations, there isn’t the luxury of time to build the camaraderie which has been such a vital component of their relative successes.
Gareth Southgate has 24 hours to reignite the spirit of 2018 and 2021 before England fly off to the Souq Al Wakra Hotel, overlooking the Persian Gulf. The team staff have one day to get the players into the mindset that, potentially, they are approaching the most significant four weeks of their careers.
Tomorrow Southgate will attempt to condense a motivational and messaging programme, which would usually be drip fed over a fortnight, into a day. He isn’t letting on what the players have in store — the surprise element is crucial for it to be effective — and yet, if Southgate’s interventions in the past are a guide, you can guarantee it will make an impact.
Wales have famously had actor Michael Sheen in to deliver a rousing speech to stir their Celtic souls at September’s international meet-up. ‘Maybe we can go one better than Wales,’ teased Southgate.
Sir Kenneth Branagh doing Henry V is out, as he’s from Belfast, so maybe they need Daniel Craig to convey the sense that they are His Majesty’s Secret Service or Idris Elba to channel the inspiration he brought to playing Nelson Mandela. If all else fails, there’s always Ricky Tomlinson to reprise Mike Bassett: England Manager with his most-inspirational line: ‘England will be playing Four four f ****** two!’
‘We’re just really conscious of that transition,’ said Southgate. ‘They’ve been heads down (focusing on the Premier League) and we’ve tried to let them get on with it. Even this week I’ve had to make my calls so I don’t affect club fixtures as much as possible. I know there will be players waiting for information, we have tried to be respectful, keep our distance. But they will get a chance to download and decompress for one day.
‘We want them to do all the things that going to a World Cup involves: the suits, the photos. Thankfully there’s been no record or song! But we just want them to be excited about going.
‘We want to fuel that. The first couple of days we won’t be on the training pitch, bar a couple that will need to do something. We just want them to transition from a hectic club schedule to thinking about England. We want to talk to them about the fact that this, whatever happens over the next four weeks, has been the second-best period for English football. We can make it the best.’
Getting excited about this World Cup is hard. It isn’t just the timing: this is a World Cup awarded by corrupt FIFA officials built on the backs of migrant labour deaths.
But Southgate (below) will consult widely, from psychologists to fellow coaches in cricket, rugby and Olympic sport and will have spent a lot of time getting the mental prompts just right. Even now an advance team are preparing the rooms at the team hotel and in the past this has included hand-written messages from Southgate to greet each player.
Many of the England manager’s critics deride this kind of touchyfeely stuff, yet cold analysis shows that this team bonding is actually Southgate’s secret weapon.
There is a myth circulating that Southgate is somehow holding back a uniquely talented bunch of players. Yet Jamie Carragher begs to differ, countering: ‘Southgate hasn’t failed to get the most out of a talented squad. He has overperformed with a very good bunch.
‘The suggestion that this is the greatest England team since 1966 is a myth, but the more it gains traction the more Southgate must deal with unrealistic demands.’