England's Manager

The One in Charge

It takes a massive collective effort to create a successful football team. From the owners, to the coaches, medical staff, trainers, PR representatives, and the players themselves, all members play their part in maintaining our beloved clubs all around the world. However, there is one person in the team who is arguably the most important, the one who ultimately bears the weight of the team’s successes and failures: the manager. The manager has the final say on which players make the team and who stays home, who will be named in starting lineups, what substitutions will be made, what formation the team plays in, and finally what overall playstyle and identity the team will adopt. The man who England has entrusted with this cardinal role for the past 8 years and the man who will manage the England squad for the 2024 European Championship is Gareth Southgate.

Southgate's Football Journey

Gareth Southgate was born on September 3, 1970 in Watford, England. Like most boys in England, he loved football from a very young age and supported Manchester United. He began his career in the footballing world as a player, representing Southampton at the youth level until he was 13 years old. He moved to Crystal Palace, where he spent the rest of his time as a youth player. He clearly made a notable impression during his time in the Crystal Palace academy, as he was called up to join the first team in 1990 when he was 20 years old. He made his first debut in the Premier League a year later in 1991 as a center midfielder. He continued to perform exceptionally well and was named the club captain in just his third season in the Premier League. Crystal Palace was unfortunately relegated from the Premier League in 1995, so Southgate moved to Aston Villa in order to continue playing football at the highest level. He remained at Villa for four seasons, and changed his primary position from center midfielder to central defender. It was during Southgate’s time at Villa that he was first introduced to international football.

A young Gareth Southgate wearing his England Kit

"To a small degree that still lives with me, to have failed under pressure under that huge spotlight is hard professionally to take."
- Gareth Southgate on missing the 1996 Euros penalty vs. Germany

Southgate made his debut for the England National Team in 1995, and just one year later he was in the starting line-up during the 1996 European Championship. England made it to the semi-final of the tournament where they were set to face Germany. The match got off to an exciting start, with both teams scoring within the first 20 minutes. However, the two teams reached a stalemate and the score remained 1-1 all the way through the end of extra time. Nothing was able to separate the two teams during the first five rounds of the penalty shootout, with every single penalty taker successfully scoring. From that point on it became sudden death, and Gareth Southgate was chosen as England’s 6th penalty taker. He approached the ball, and took a poorly placed shot that the keeper was able to easily save. Germany scored their next penalty immediately after that, and England was eliminated from the tournament. Being primarily responsible for England’s premature exit took a heavy toll on Southgate, and he has said that his failure in that moment still lives with him today. Southgate was able to overcome this adversity and continued to play for England, returning to the European Championship in 2000. He went on to make 57 total appearances for his country, but was unable to win a single major trophy.

Despite not winning anything with England, Southgate experienced moderate success back at the club level. He won the league cup with Aston Villa in 1996, and won it again with Middlesbrough in 2004. He remained at Middlesbrough until 2006, where he retired from playing football at the respectable age of 35. Southgate could not be kept out of football for long though, and rejoined Middlesbrough as their manager later that same year. He kept Middlesbrough in the Premier League for two seasons, but his third season resulted in him being sacked after Middlesbrough was relegated. Southgate took a 4 year hiatus from football before accepting a job with the England U-21 team, where he won 27 out of 33 matches. After three years with the U-21s, he was appointed as the manager of the senior team in 2016 under some unorthodox circumstances. The previous manager, Sam Allardyce, resigned after just one game in charge due to breaching transfer policies, and Southgate was asked to step in as interim manager. After a successful qualification run for the 2018 World Cup, Southgate was confirmed to be the permanent manager. Under his tenure, England exited in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, placed third in the 2019 UEFA Nations League, placed second in the 2020 Euros, and exited in the quarter finals of the 2022 World Cup. Currently, England is awaiting their first match in the 2024 Euros after 8 undefeated qualifying matches.

Southgate's Tactics

Southgate’s tactical setup for the England team can be described as safe and unimaginative, which typically manifests itself in a standard 4-3-3 formation. If you are unfamiliar with what this means, the England line-up consists of two center backs, a left and right back, some combination of three attacking and defensive midfielders, a left and right wing, and finally a center forward/striker. During friendly matches or easy qualification matches Southgate has been known to try more experimental setups, but when it comes to important games he usually resorts to what he's comfortable with (which is understandable). England’s playstyle under Southgate is relatively slow, and focuses on a methodical build from the back that eventually evolves into a lethal attack. Because this style results in a high volume of passes among the back line and midfield, many consider it to be boring and predictable.

England Starting 11 vs France_edited.jpg

England's Classic 4-3-3 vs. France in the 2022 World Cup Quarter Finals

Defensively speaking, England avoids playing a high line because their center backs are usually not very quick. The outside backs push further up the field to join in the attack, and can commonly be seen whipping balls into the box from a very advanced position. They then use their impressive pace to track back defensively if England loses possession. As mentioned earlier, attacks start from the rear and then progress to the midfield. After a significant amount of passing occurs, the ball is distributed to the wide players and then progresses up the field. This is done by the outside backs, wingers, or a combination of the two. This also allows the striker to either sit in the box and wait for a cross, or drop back and play a more creative role, something Harry Kane excels at. Since Southgate is a defensively minded coach, England’s play in the final third often lacks structure. Southgate relies on the natural talent of his players and moments of individual brilliance to produce goals, which luckily his team has an abundance of. To summarize, Southgate utilizes safe and time tested tactics. This allows him to produce consistent results, but his lack of originality or willingness to take risks could be responsible for England’s inability to win trophies.

Criticism

Like almost every manager to come before him, Gareth Southgate has faced his fair share of criticism for his managerial style. Many England fans would prefer to see someone else take over the job, partially because of the tactics outlined in the previous section. The reality is that fans not only want to see their team win, but want to see their team play explosive, exciting, and action packed football. With Southgate’s defensive preference, fans can still be left unsatisfied after watching a match even if the team wins. When the team loses, this playstyle makes the loss even more frustrating because it results in low score lines and uninspiring performances. Additionally, some attribute Southgate’s inability to adapt and play more adventurous football to England’s difficulty going all the way in international tournaments. It is a common sentiment that Southgate is riding on the backs of his naturally gifted players, not his tactical brilliance. It is possible that England wins their games in spite of Southgate’s tactics, not because of them. Many postulate that if England had a manager capable of drawing out the full potential of England’s squad, they would have easily won a trophy at some point during the last eight years.

While Southgate’s tactics have been examined with substantial scrutiny, his biggest criticism has to do with his squad selection. Just as Southgate likes to use familiar tactics, he also likes to choose players he is familiar with. Rather than pick the most in-form, high performing English players, Southgate chooses players he has managed before, even if they are not even playing regular league football. This means that the team traveling to international tournaments is not always as strong as it should be. Notable players that Southgate always seems to pick regardless of their form include Harry Maguire, Jordan Henderson, and Kalvin Phillips. Harry Magiure is regularly criticized for his poor performances at Manchester United, and for a time he lost his spot in the United starting lineup. Jordan Henderson effectively retired from competitive football when he left Liverpool to join the Saudi team Al Ettifaq. Kalvin Phillips could not find his place in the Manchester City team, and has not played more than 12 games per season for the last two seasons. Despite these three players struggling at their clubs, they have all been consistently called up for international duty and continue to make regular appearances for England. This has caused players who have recently been playing exceptional football to be left out of major tournaments. Two such players are Jarrad Bowen and James Ward Prowse, who many fans thought should have traveled to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.

What's Next?

Given the criticism Southgate is already receiving, if England has a lackluster performance during the 2024 Euros then his position as manager may be in jeopardy. If this does end up happening, what would be next for him? At 53 years old Southgate is by no means at the end of his managerial career, so we think he will most likely seek out a job with a Premier League team. Luckily for him, we predict there may be many positions available in the upcoming year. The most notable is Manchester United, who have been on a downward trajectory for the past 10 years. The United manager, Erik Ten Hag, has been under the constant threat of being sacked almost since the moment he joined the club, and right now it seems that all it could take is one embarrassing defeat for him to be sacked. As someone with the experience of managing England for 8 years, Southgate would be a prime candidate for United. Chelsea and Newcastle are both clubs that have fallen short of expectations in the 2023/2024 seasons, so it is entirely possible that jobs could open up for them as well. Jurgen Klopp has already stated his intentions to leave Liverpool this summer, and after Xabi Alonso expressed his desire to remain at Bayern Leverkusen, Liverpool will be desperate to find a replacement. Newly promoted and relegated teams usually have a notoriously high turnover rate for managers, so it is likely that at least one or two spots will open up those clubs during the upcoming season. Finally, there is always the option to go abroad and manage in another domestic league. There are so many options that it is impossible to make a confident prediction on where Southgate will go next, but he should have little difficulty finding a new team given his experience.

From left to right: Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Graham Potter, Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel

If Southgate leaves the English team, the obvious question becomes ‘who will replace him’? Once again, there are so many options that it is impossible to make a confident prediction. However, there are a few possibilities to be entertained. Right now, we think the most likely candidate is Graham Potter. He has been around the Premier League for a number of years, with the most notable appointments being at Brighton and Chelsea. Potter has not managed a team since he left Chelsea in 2023 so he will be looking for a job, and we give him bonus points for being English himself. Our second option is Thomas Tuchel, another former Chelsea manager who is currently without a club following his recent sacking at Bayern Munich. We think Tuchel and Potter are the two most practical choices, but we also want to entertain the possibility of some unlikely options that we think England fans would be very excited about. Pep Guardiola has been rumored to want a move from Manchester City soon, but we think it is more likely that he will return to Spain before taking the England job. Jurgen Klopp said that he is leaving Liverpool because he is tired and needs a break, but if he discovers that he misses football too much and wants to return to managing, we are sure England would be delighted to have him as their manager. Jose Mourihno ‘The Special One’ is looking for a new team, and there is no doubt he would be an entertaining selection for England. Regardless of who is chosen to replace Southgate, it will be interesting to see how the English team’s performance changes. Maybe Southgate has been wasting the immense talent within his team, but maybe we will discover that Southgate actually deserves more credit than he is given for his accomplishments with the team so far.

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