- Gareth Southgate’s reign as England manager came to an end on Tuesday
A couple of years ago Gary Neville spoke to Mail Sport about what it used to be like to play for England.
‘It could be hard and it could be scary,’ the former England defender said.
‘The media, the pressure. It was intimidating and there were times that made it difficult to enjoy.’
Neville isn’t the type to be fazed by much but what was old England. That was the England of managers such as Sven Goran Eriksson, Fabio Capello and even, a decade later, Roy Hodgson. A bad environment and at times even worse results.
But now we are here – on day one of the England after Southgate – and it is much different and much better and one of the most important tasks of his successor will be to ensure we move forwards in this regard and not back to the horrid jumble of fear, inter-club rivalries and distrust.
Gareth Southgate (pictured) has left his position as the manager of the England men’s team
He’ll leave his role after leading the Three Lions to two European Championship finals
Southgate (right), who has not been to everybody’s taste over the last eight years and did not have his best of tournaments at Euro 2024, will still leave the post with his head held high
Southgate has not been to everybody’s taste over the last eight years and it is true that he didn’t have his best tournament in Euro 2024. Despite England’s progress to the final there was plenty of evidence scattered over four weeks in Germany to tell us that his own race was pretty much run.
Southgate’s England has always felt right, however, in terms of environment and culture and that shift towards modernity sits as one of his most significant achievements alongside an appearance in two major finals, our country’s first since 1966. It must be protected and nurtured at all cost because if it isn’t we will once again become lost.
Beyond that, the new England head coach will find in front him challenges familiar to Southgate and indeed many of the men who came before him.
How does he produce an England team that is at least equal to – if not greater than – the sum of its talented parts? How does he overcome a traditional English problem of players arriving on the doorstep of summer tournaments already feeling in need of a holiday?
After Sunday’s defeat to Spain in Berlin, Southgate was finally honest about the imperfect physical condition of his players. He almost took Jude Bellingham off the field, he said, because the 21-year-old was suffering from cramp. It was a remarkable and telling thing to say.
Inside the England camp over the last four weeks, Southgate’s players openly discussed it. How worn out they felt. How many games they had played over the last couple of years.
Southgate’s players openly discussed how worn out they felt after the heartbreaking final
The 53-year-old boss had lobbied for a Premier League winter break during his time in charge
Players like Phil Foden (left), Kyle Walker (second left) and John Stones (third left) will not have had a proper break from football in nearly three years ahead of the 2026 World Cup in America
Southgate lobbied hard for a Premier League winter break during his time in charge but when it came he saw it for what it was, a gesture and nothing more. Last season, for example, some clubs got a couple of weeks off in January but those who had FA Cup replays and the like did not. No wonder Southgate privately scoffed at it.
At a time when the domestic football calendar feels ever more cluttered, Southgate’s successor must lobby the Premier League and indeed its leading clubs for some common sense and some understanding. Good luck with that. Top English clubs will play in an extended version of the Champions League over the coming autumn and winter while Manchester City and Chelsea will feature in next summer’s Club World Cup in America. This effectively means that the likes of Phil Foden, John Stones, Kyle Walker and, as it stands, Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer will head in to the 2026 World Cup having not had a proper break from football in three years. Looked at in that context the problem is clear.
Southgate’s replacement must also bring some elite level coaching to the table. Southgate’s strengths lay in communication, individual player management and culture. Candidates to replace him such as Eddie Howe and Graham Potter are coaches first and managers second. As hard as it is to say, Southgate was shown up a little in Germany by rivals such as Spain’s Luis de la Fuente, Julian Nagelsmann of Germany and even Austria’s Ralf Rangnick. This was particularly the case in terms of in-game changes and substitutions. England need a proactive, brave and innovative coach this time round and there is every chance they will get one.
The FA’s five-man list of candidates to replace Southgate, which includes the likes of Graham Potter (right) and Newcastle boss Eddie Howe (left), are coaches first and managers second
A new England manager faces the challenge of accepting that Jude Bellingham (pictured) is a special player, but must understand that his attitude should be the same as everyone else’s
The superstar (right) is already a Champions League and LaLiga winner following his superb first season at Real Madrid – and is arguably England’s most talented player for a generation
Beyond that, the challenge before him is to move a talented group of England players to the next level. The search for a natural partnership at the base of England’s midfield will go on – Declan Rice had three different partners in seven Euros games in Germany – but elsewhere there is a deepening well of attacking talent and slap bang in the middle of it is Bellingham.
The Real Madrid star is already a Champions League and La Liga winner and arguably our most talented player for a generation. Bellingham under-performed in Germany this summer, however, and left for a break this week with some of his team-mates wondering if so much success so early has changed him a little.
It was instructive to watch Bellingham bare his soul to the Spanish media after the final on Sunday and then walk past the English Press as he always does without fail. He is the only England player who does this. A new manager faces the challenge of accepting the fact that Bellingham is a very special player but also of ensuring he understands that when it comes to behaviour and attitude on and off the field he is very much just the same everybody else.
Bellingham is a young man and it is understandable that there are some rough edges that are in need of smoothing off. It will need to happen, though, and it will need to happen before the next World Cup. This was effectively a six week camp but the World Cup will be a week longer and the travel more arduous. By the time we get there Southgate’s successor needs to have positioned his best player in a place where be benefits his squad in all facets. In Germany, for all that he spoke glowingly of Bellingham, this was not a happy place that Southgate managed to find.
Southgate (pictured) waves goodbye to England after a near-eight-year spell as their manager
His team never quite made it to the top of the mountain and could not end England’s 58-year trophy drought, but the challenge for the man who succeeds him could not be more clear
The 53-year-old stayed in situ for 102 games and for the best part of eight years. It was some innings with England and what it means and how it feels to play for your country has been elevated to a plane perhaps not seen since the Terry Venables era of 1996.
Southgate’s England never did make it to the top of the mountain, however. The challenge for the man who walks through the door behind him could not be more clear.