No more excuses, Gareth! Southgate must take England risks
The pre-tournament favourites bored a whole continent to tears in the group stage, and more heartbreak awaits if the manager doesn’t change his ways
“I understand the narrative towards me,” Gareth Southgate said after seeing empty cups thrown in his direction by England fans in Cologne on Tuesday. “That’s better for the team than it being towards them, but it is creating an unusual environment to operate in. I’ve not seen any other team qualify and receive similar.”
Southgate has been widely praised for the job he’s done with the England squad over the past eight years. He built up a lot of credit by turning them into genuine major tournament contenders again and fixing the toxic dressing room culture that undermined the regimes of his predecessors Roy Hodgson, Fabio Capello and Sven-Goran Eriksson.
But after England’s mind-numbing 0-0 draw against Slovenia, who currently sit 57th in the FIFA world rankings, Southgate has nothing left in the bank. Although that result took the Three Lions through to the Euro 2024 knockout stages as Group C winners, the mood in the stands at the final whistle was one of pure frustration and bewilderment.
Southgate has a wealth of talent at his disposal, and yet England have looked so average and devoid of ideas from minute one in Germany. It’s no wonder that he has lost the faith of the supporters. The players have also let themselves down, but the buck stops with Southgate, and if he doesn’t start taking some risks then his reign is destined to end in humiliating fashion – perhaps even as early as the next round.
Conservative mindset
England put themselves in a strong position heading into the Slovenia game after picking up four points from their games against Serbia and Denmark, but their performances were shockingly pedestrian. Southgate started with the exact same lineup and 4-2-3-1 formation in both games, deploying Phil Foden in an unnatural role on the left flank while ‘experimenting’ with Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield, and it just didn’t work.
The balance was off in midfield as Jude Bellingham, Foden and Alexander-Arnold all occupied the same spaces, leaving no room for Harry Kane to come short for the ball. The Bayern Munich man cut an isolated figure up top as a result, and England had no runners in behind, with most of their passes going sideways or backwards in pointless cycles that asked no questions of the opposition.
It wasn’t until Southgate made an uncharacteristic triple substitution in the 69th minute of the clash with Denmark that the Three Lions showed some signs of life, as Kane, Foden and Bukayo Saka were taken out of the firing line. Ollie Watkins, Jarrod Bowen and Eberechi Eze gave England some genuine width and an injection of pace, albeit without making any significant impact, mainly because Southgate waited to long to introduce them.
It should have been a wake-up call for the England boss, though. He could have brought them all back in from the start against Slovenia, or given Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon a chance to show what they can offer in the final third. Instead, Southgate made just one alteration, drafting in Conor Gallagher to replace Alexander-Arnold at the base of midfield; and that conservative mindset is the main reason the Three Lions now find themselves in such a huge mess.
‘Basic’ England
England had the same problems in the first half against Slovenia, and Gallagher was hooked at the start of the second half, having proven to be a poor upgrade on Alexander-Arnold at the base of midfield. Manchester United wonderkid Kobbie Mainoo took his place and immediately gave England more zip in their build-up play, and Palmer eventually got his first taste of major tournament action in the 71st minute.
The Chelsea man was far more inventive on the right wing than Saka had been, attacking his marker at every opportunity, and if he’d been given more time he might well have found a way through Slovenia’s stubborn rear-guard. “The more substitutions we made, the less rigid we looked,” former England right-back Gary Neville said on ITV Sport. “We looked so basic in the first half, it was a struggle to watch that, and I think we moved forward in the second half.”
Gordon wasn’t so lucky, as he had to make do with a five-minute cameo right at the death, but the Newcastle forward still managed to create more chances than Saka and Bellingham (two). He was also endearingly candid in his post-match interview, admitting to reporters: “It’s just not clicking, so hopefully in the coming games it will, because we need to start really attacking teams and dominating games.”
It was a simple yet entirely accurate analysis. England’s attacking riches went completely to waste in the group stage, and Southgate must be braver and stop picking the team based on reputation if performances are to improve.
Drop Bellingham deeper
It’s pretty safe to say that Southgate won’t change his system. He’s always favoured a flat back four with two holding midfielders, and for the most part it’s served him well.
It could still work in Germany, but only if he selects the right players for each position. The simplest solution to England’s current plight is to bring Bellingham in alongside Rice, which would open up a host of exciting options in attack.
Bellingham played like a man possessed against Serbia, almost single-handedly dragging England to a 1-0 win, but has been unable to sustain that level of performance. He’s stopped pressing, and the technical quality supporters have come to expect from the Real Madrid superstar has been lacking.
It’s true that the 20-year-old had less time to recover from the 2023-24 season than most, as Real stormed to a La Liga and Champions League double, but that’s no excuse for the drop off in his last two appearances. Bellingham would have more room to breath in a deeper role, without having to worry about shouldering any kind of goal-scoring burden.
Ideally, that would leave Foden free to operate alone in the No.10 slot, where he wreaked so much havoc for Manchester City on his way to winning the Premier League Player of the Year award. Gordon could then come in on the left, and Palmer should get the nod on the opposite side for Saka, who has not been nearly as incisive as he usually is in an Arsenal shirt.
Kane’s skills as a target man would then be put to good use because he’d have the space to get his foot on the ball and pick out the two wingers ahead of him who know how to stretch defences. The only snag is Foden having to return to England for the birth of his third child, which has put his participation in the last-16 in doubt, but in the event he doesn’t play, Palmer could just tuck in behind Kane.
Expectations are plummeting
The bottom line is: Southgate doesn’t have to do anything too radical to change England’s trajectory. It is still true that the Three Lions have the most strength in depth at the tournament, and with just a slightly more positive approach, the players should be able to unleash their full potential.
But no one will be surprised if England start with the same team against Slovakia in in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday. Southgate seems to think that by cramming all the biggest names into his side that individual brilliance will carry them through to a second successive European Championship final.
The other problem is: none of the players seem to have a clue what they’re going to do when they get the ball, it’s all off the cuff. There’s no clear patterns of play, they don’t press as a unit and most worryingly of all, no one is taking any risks.
Expectations are plummeting with each passing game that sees Southgate refuse to let the shackles off. “Our world is different at the moment and I feel that is probably because of me,” the 53-year-old has feebly conceded, but he doesn’t appear to be taking any criticism on board.
Past point of no return
Southgate has, however, acknowledged that squad morale is dangling on a knife edge. “I have to help the players as much as I possibly can because we brought the joy back into playing for England and we have to be very careful of where we head with it,” he said. “Players have loved playing England the last six or seven years, we’ve got to keep that – we have to keep that. If we don’t, I understand the feeling towards me, but back the players, it’s crucial the fans back the players.”
It could be argued that the joy has already been lost. The likes of Kane, Declan Rice and John Stones have all come out to back the manager publicly, but their body language on the pitch paints a different picture. England have toiled instead of expressing themselves, with discipline coming ahead of creativity. There’s a balance to be struck between the two that must be found against Slovakia, or else the fans will be in for another 90 minutes of tedium at Schalke’s Veltins Arena.
But it does feel as though we’re past the point of no return. Even if Southgate stages a miraculous turnaround, the clamour for a fresh start will be widespread once the curtain draws on this tournament. Many of the players in this squad will be in their prime at the 2026 World Cup in North America, and they need a manager who will not only inspire them, but also challenge them to be the best version of themselves.
Legacy
Southgate is now working to preserve a lasting legacy in English football. If he finally brings 58 years of hurt to an end, he can head off into the sunset as the heir to Sir Alf Ramsey, but his tenure will be seen as a monumental failure if the Three Lions fall short.England should have won this trophy three years ago, but they rested on their laurels after taking an early lead in the final against Italy. And the following year at the Qatar World Cup, a lack of inner belief cost them a semi-final place at the expense of France.It’s easy to imagine that a more street-wise, attack-minded manager would have led the Three Lions to glory at both of those tournaments. But Southgate’s destiny is still in his own hands.Reaching the last eight of Euro 2024 is considered a minimum requirement now. England have the tools to breeze past Slovakia if they step on the gas, and they will be boosted by the return of Luke Shaw, who has been sorely missed at left-back.They’re also on the easier side of the draw, with Italy or Switzerland awaiting in the last eight while Austria, Turkey, Romania or the Netherlands are their potential semi-final opponents. It’s too late for Southgate to save himself, but he can still win back the respect of the public and finally shake off his nearly-man tag; he just has to break the habit of a lifetime and throw caution to the wind.