Spain’s 2-1 deserved win over England in the final of the men’s 2024 Uefa European Football Championship on Sunday leaves many people wondering: what now for manager Gareth Southgate? This is the second final loss in a row for England, which had been beaten on penalties by Italy in the 2020 Euros (hosted in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions). In between, at the 2022 Fifa World Cup, England went out in the quarter-final stage, and in the 2018 World Cup, Southgate led his team to the semi-final. Most fans of the English national team have never seen it win a major international trophy, so repeatedly going deep in tournaments is progress.
But, for many, it is not enough. Throughout the Euros, fans have been critical of the team’s performances, with the manager bearing the brunt of the ire. In the wake of the latest disappointment, will Southgate stay on, or is it time to hand over the job as England manager? Here’s what we know about Gareth Southgate.
Gareth Southgate was a professional player, then manager {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Gareth Southgate, England men’s football team manager. Photo: @sports_qr/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.
i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/15/04d37450-eba7-458d-84ec-e592f577ac15_f7910654.jpg"} Gareth Southgate, England men’s football team manager.
Photo: @sports_qr/Instagram Like other well-known names in the football world , Gareth was a player before he became a manager. The 53-year-old made his professional debut in 1990 for Crystal Palace, becoming club captain after just three seasons. He then moved to Aston Villa , where he stayed until 2001, before moving to Middlesbrough, where he retired in 2006.
Southgate also made 57 appearances for his country, including reaching the semi-final of the 1996 Euros, where his missed penalty saw England lose. Hanging up his boots at age 35, he returned to Middlesbrough as manager in 2006, until his dismissal in 2009. After four years away from football, he was appointed manager of England’s under-21s in 2013.
There, he was praised for his man management, showing a good rapport with the young players and delivering results on the pitch. This record saw him elevated to senior national manger in 2016. In late 2018, Southgate spoke about empathy and empowerment being key to his management style.
“As a coach, you always have to be there to support the person,” he was widely reported as saying. “Improving them as a player becomes secondary to a degree. But if a player feels that you respect them and want to help them, they’re more likely to listen to you and follow you.
” England’s record since Southgate’s appointment is impressive, winning almost 60 per cent of their games. For England’s performance at the 2018 World Cup, Southgate received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award and was given an OBE by the late Queen Elizabeth in 2019. {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Gareth Southgate with one of his young stars, Jude Bellingham. Photo: @england/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.i-scmp.
com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/15/fd963379-9c3c-4449-bb0b-0eaeaedb90aa_a87ba436.jpg"} Gareth Southgate with one of his young stars, Jude Bellingham. Photo: @england/Instagram Why is Gareth Southgate sparking backlash from fans? In this year’s Euros in Germany though, fans have became increasingly impatient with his conservative tactics.
Some went as far as tossing beer cups at him at the end of the team’s second consecutive draw in the group stage, against Slovenia on June 25. The draw saw England win its qualifying group but the team’s plodding style, sideways passing and Southgate’s perceived slowness to freshen things up by making substitutions contributed to what the manager afterwards called an “unusual environment”. England was developing a habit of doing just enough to progress through.
An escape act in the Last 16 against Slovakia was followed by another against Switzerland in the quarter-final, where it was again underwhelming but won on penalties. Given the team’s previously poor record in shoot-outs though, the confident way Southgate’s players handled the huge occasion was a big plus. {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"At the 2024 Euros in Germany, England fans have not been slow to share their frustrations with their manager with boos and even beer cups. Photo: @allfootball_official/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.i-scmp.
com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/15/9662bd08-9070-43b2-8e38-e1c01acf323f_68fa4983.jpg"} At the 2024 Euros in Germany, England fans have not been slow to share their frustrations with their manager with boos and even beer cups. Photo: @allfootball_official/Instagram That brought the semi-final on July 10 against the Netherlands where, for the third game in succession, England conceded the first goal.
In having to chase the game though they played their best football of the tournament and the narrow 2-1 win over the Dutch saw a more hopeful shift in some fans’ attitude. This apparently made Southgate a little sentimental. In a postgame interview, per The Washington Post, he had this to say about the fan reaction: “We all want to be loved, right? When you’re doing something for your country, and you’re a proud Englishman, when you don’t feel that back and when all you read is criticism, it’s hard.
” Southgate’s reflections on what might have been {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Gareth Southgate is No 1 for now, but for how much longer? Photo: @football/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.i-scmp.
com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/15/59a8123d-e272-4322-913e-91a8d9d125d6_2cb6108e.jpg"} Gareth Southgate is No 1 for now, but for how much longer? Photo: @football/Instagram Now, despite taking the team further than almost all of his predecessors, Southgate’s future – and therefore England’s – is uncertain after losing the final. Asked about this by the BBC after the Spain game, Southgate said: “Now is not the time for me to speak about that.
” His contract expires in December, so there’s time for the latest disappointment to be raked over before any decision has to be made. Some feel Southgate may have had enough punishment and will step down. Other voices are saying that in order for England to reach the next level, of actually raising a trophy above their heads, they need to make a change regardless of his feelings on the matter.
For now, Southgate is licking his wounds – and perhaps shoring up his legacy a little. “England are in a really good position in terms of the experience they have,” he told the BBC. “Most of this squad will be around for the next World Cup and maybe the next Euros .
.. There’s a lot to look forward to but, at this moment, it’s not any consolation.
” Unconvincing performances at the 2024 Euros in Germany got England to the final – and its ultimate loss has left many unsure if Southgate can take them the next step ‘Most of this squad will be around for the next World Cup and maybe the next Euros,’ Southgate told the BBC; like David Beckham, the 53-year-old was a pro player before he became a manager.
