IN the space of a week, we seem to have lost the Gareth Southgate who brought the feel-good factor back to English football.
Here is a man who now looks battered and bruised from the fierce criticism he has received not only back home but also from a couple of former England players.
We live in a world where too many pundits are cheerleaders and while Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer were correct in their evaluation of the Three Lions after the 1-1 draw with Denmark, it has nevertheless gone down badly with Southgate.
The manager says he is on a mission to protect his players from all the s**t that is flying around but he must also ensure he does not lose focus.
In his eight years as England manager, he had never appeared so chilled going into the opening two games.
The mood was upbeat around the team’s Euro base in Blankenhain. Southgate was in good humour during all of his media duties.
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Here was a man confident in the knowledge he had a group of players capable of winning Euro 2024.
But in the fall-out of the two draws against Denmark and Slovenia, his mood has darkened spectacularly. He has had some tough spells but none like this.
One of the 53-year-old’s big strengths has been the ability to tap into each and every England fan and create positivity.
No supporter will ever forget the summer of 2018 when they finally fell in love with the England football team.
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Yet Southgate knows he has lost the trust of virtually the entire English supporting public. He suffered abuse and ridicule after England lost 4-0 to Hungary in the Nations League in 2022 but this is at a different level.
Southgate is acutely aware how the whole mood of the nation has changed.
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And it is not just the poisonous echo chamber that is social media.
The manager knows that many fans, not merely keyboard warriors but those who chat about football down the pub and at work, would be happy if the Football Association announced his dismissal today and put a caretaker in charge for Sunday’s last-16 clash.
Even if there was previously a chance Southgate would stay on after this Euros in Germany, there is absolutely no way of it happening now. Not even if England win the tournament.
During his media duties ahead of the Slovenia game, Southgate was far more subdued than normal.
Following the 0-0 in Cologne, he came out fighting and vowed to protect his players — yet he also made some curious comments.
He said: “I have to keep the players right on track. On the day of the game, I showed them pictures of Italy celebrating their qualification with their fans, of Hungary celebrating when they didn’t even know if they were through.
“Denmark were celebrating a draw against us and they were on two points.
“Our world is different at the moment and I feel that is probably because of me.
“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.”
Yet Italy were celebrating because of their 98th-minute equaliser against Croatia — and Hungary were going crazy because of a winner against Scotland in the tenth minute of stoppage time.
Equally, Denmark were jubilant because they had deservedly taken a point off tournament favourites England.
The Three Lions were booed off the pitch in Cologne because their gifted team had performed so poorly for 2½ group matches.
England need superhero Bellingham back to have any chance of winning Euro 2024
JUDE BELLINGHAM delivered a masterful, super-hero performance in the opening 45 minutes at Euro 2024, writes Charlie Wyett.
Yet we have not seen much from the boy wonder since.
Maybe he left his cloak in the dressing room at Gelsenkirchen and is still looking for it.
But he needs to discover in time for the last 16 tie this weekend otherwise England are knackered.
Approaching the serious part of Euro 2024, this team really does need to get a grip and start showing some personality.
At times against Slovenia, Bellingham just looked lost.
Let’s hope he can sprinkle some stardust in the knockout stages because Gareth Southgate certainly needs something.
Bellingham should come good. This could still be HIS tournament.
Read Charlie Wyett’s England vs Slovenia verdict in full.
Or check out all of Charlie’s Euro 2024 stories.
Over these last few weeks, Southgate has made some strange decisions.
It was a mistake to take Luke Shaw as his sole left-footed defender and only now is he anywhere near to being fit.
Marc Guehi has been England’s best player over the three matches so far but Ezri Konsa and Lewis Dunk are not ideal back-ups.
Southgate should have picked either Harry Maguire, despite his short-term injury issues, or Bayern Munich’s Eric Dier.
Jordan Henderson — despite not having a great end to the season with Ajax — should have been included as he would have had a month to get up speed in terms of sharpness.
Even if he was not ready to start, he is a winner — as he proved with Liverpool — and he would have been a steady, experienced influence in the dressing room.
As for Southgate’s team selections, the Trent Alexander-Arnold experiment did not work.
Neither did putting Conor Gallagher next to Declan Rice against Slovenia.
Although Marcus Rashford and James Maddison could not have too many complaints over missing out, Jack Grealish should have been included even if it was to come off the bench.
Southgate went too far with his mixing and matching. Now, he is left with a squad lacking balance but equally, one which could go deep into this tournament.
Southgate needs his big players like Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane and Phil Foden to play without fear.
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Those same players need Southgate to try not to be affected by public opinion, even if this includes some of his mates.
Also, Southgate needs to get all of his team selections right. And maybe then, he will leave the England job on a high.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
