From an England supporter’s perspective, last Sunday’s Euro 24 final certainly lived down to expectations. Having stumbled their way through the easy side of the draw, requiring last-gasp goals and poor VAR decisions to carry them to Berlin, it would probably have been an injustice if the Three Lions had defeated a vibrant and exciting Spanish team. Luckily for football, with Gareth Southgate in charge, there was little chance of that happening, and the tournament was allowed to come to a logical conclusion with the sport’s integrity intact and Spain worthy winners.
Southgate, as expected, did the decent thing in the wake of his latest failure and fell on his sword, showing the same unquestionable levels of dignity in departure as he had during his entire eight-year reign. That’s the thing about Southgate – he is almost impossible not to like. Decent, honest, polite, thoughtful, kind, caring.
One of the nicest men to ever hold English football’s highest office. But as a coach, he was floundering from the moment he stepped through the door. Poor tactics, imbalanced squads, illogical favouritism, a preference for defence when the team screamed attack, and the inability to make big calls and substitutions when they were needed.
Heck, he essentially made England play seven matches in Germany with just 10 men because he either couldn’t see, or was too scared to act upon, the fact that his captain was not there mentally or physically. A lot of people point out that he.