Can England be Successful Under Southgate?

After recent rumours about Southgate stepping down after Euro 2024, many England fans seemed to be pleased with the news. While Southgate had a great start to life at England reaching the World Cup semi-finals in Russia and the Euro finals in 2021, things definitely looked positive with this current England crop. However, since then the progress seems to have gone backwards with England being knocked out of the Nations League and exiting the Qatar World Cup in the Quarter-finals mainly due to Southgate's team selections. 

The players are not hindering England's chances of winning a major trophy but rather the management. Many argue that Southgate has been one of England's most successful managers recently, reaching the semi-final in 2018, the final in 2021 and a quarter-final this year at the Qatar World Cup. While there has been an improvement in mentality and squad depth to call a trophyless run successful is the wrong statement. Yes, Southgate has certainly improved England's reputation at tournaments but his managerial prowess is not enough to win a major tournament. A manager who has experience in winning tournament football would certainly help England win a major tournament with this current crop of players whereas Southgate has proved to be a big-game 'bottler' in football terms.

Examples of his poor management became evident in the EURO 2020 final bringing on Rashford and Sancho just to take penalties. And the recent bore draws against Ukraine in the qualifiers and the USA in the Qatar World Cup 2022 group stages. Poor substitutions and team selection in that match showed England as the inferior side to the USA, with all due respect England should have won that game comfortably with the correct tactics. Then in the quarter-finals, taking off Bukayo Saka, who was the man of the match, certainly for England, and bringing on out-of-form Mount and a jet-lagged Sterling clearly highlights that Southgate has favourites which is a sign of unethical leadership. Marcus Rashford only got roughly 5 minutes in that quarter-final to save the match despite being one of England's best players at the tournament. James Maddison did not even get a kick at this World Cup, despite being one of the best English players in the domestic seasons.

Furthermore, when it comes to picking the England squad for each international break, it seems as though there are certain players who are immune to being dropped, the most notable ones being Maguire and Henderson. There was a time when playing good for your club side gave players a merit for being called up to their international teams. But with Southgate, it seems he doesn't really factor in form and prioritises past experiences. Yes, Maguire and Henderson have been reliable to him when it comes to an England jersey, but it is not the way forward as other players in better form or younger prospects don't get a chance to be integrated early into the squad. Thus, it becomes harder for them to find a place in the future having not been exposed to the international set-up earlier because of favouritism to certain players. Furthermore, Maguire hardly starts a game for Man Utd, so his match sharpness for big tournaments will be a huge worry and could cause problems for England. His form hasn't been great either. Personally, he should have taken that move to West Ham in this summer's transfer window. They have started the season well and fit his style of play. It would have been the perfect opportunity for him to regain his reputation and maintain match sharpness for the Euros at the end of the season. Although he refused to leave as reportedly Man Utd and Maguire couldn't agree on how much he will be paid out from his contract.  

Thus, for these recent qualifiers, he should have been dropped as he has only played a very minute amount of minutes for Man Utd this season. Regarding Henderson, his move to the Saudi League should have been a signal to Southgate it was time to invest in new younger or better midfielders such as James Ward-Prowse who has had a great start to life at West Ham. He deserved to be called up and play a few minutes or games but Henderson was picked over him which was rather a shock. And the recent poor result against Ukraine (1-1) has pressured Southgate to be removed before the Euro's even start. 

Overall, he certainly has blended all the players well into a great group that trusts each other, However, his style of play with the talented squad is a waste. Tactically inept when it comes to the crucial matches against the big nations. It is time to move on from the past euphoria of Russia 2018 and Euro 2021's run. Southgate's not the correct person to lead out this bright and young group of players, if and when they play well can be the best team in Europe. 

I do believe Southgate will be there for Euro 2024 regardless of results in the lead-up to the tournament but if he improves his team selections and plays more aggressively than conservatively they can easily challenge for the championship but as of now and how they are playing it wouldn't shock me if they have another relatively early exit in the RO16 or QF's again.