Booed in the stadiums and criticized by the press throughout the European Championship, Gareth Southgate qualified England for their second consecutive continental final, something unprecedented for the country, where the coach’s decisions are now praised.
“Questioned and insulted, but Southgate’s England are in the final,” summed up The Guardian newspaper, which described the Three Lions’ achievement of returning to the Euro final after three years as “extraordinary progress”.
Southgate is not Alf Ramsey, the manager who led England to the 1966 World Cup title as hosts, but he has steadied the team over the past eight years, with quarter-finals at the 2022 World Cup, a semi-final at the 2018 World Cup and the last two European Championship finals.
Before his arrival in 2016, England had only played in the final that crowned them world champions, a very poor record in 23 major tournaments.
Southgate, 53, with limited coaching experience, managed to build solid foundations on scorched earth when the English Football Association (FA) chose him to take charge of the national team after the Euro 2016 fiasco under Roy Hodgson and the lightning-fast stint of Sam Allardyce, who only lasted two months in charge.
“I think we gave our fans some of the best nights in the last 50 years and I’m very proud,” Southgate said after the 2-1 semi-final win over the Netherlands.
The wind also began to blow in favor in the press, with the classification for the final, after the hurricane of criticism during the tournament in Germany.
“We all want to be loved, don’t we? So when you’re doing something to make your country and yourself proud to be English, and all you read is criticism, it’s tough,” the manager said after the match against the Dutch.
“To be able to make a second final is very, very special,” he added.
Our #ThreeLions. Our #EURO2024 finalists! 🦁 pic.twitter.com/xFXHQi3Pcu
— England (@England) July 10, 2024
Risky changes, but they worked out well
The last friendly before the Euros, a defeat to Iceland at Wembley (1-0), ended with boos, especially for Southgate, who for the fans was unable to give a face to a team full of talented players.
With the ‘Three Lions’ in Germany, criticism has multiplied, including from legends who have already retired from the national team.
During a low-key group stage, fans even threw plastic cups from the stands towards the coach.
Under pressure, Southgate was resolute in his tactical decisions, with the introduction of 19-year-old Kobbie Mainoo the only major change to the starting line-up.
Didn’t fans and pundits call for Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane to be substituted when the team were losing to Slovakia in the round of 16? Well, the former sent the game into extra time and the latter scored the winning goal.
In the quarter-finals, the delay in changing the team angered the fans, but Cole Palmer, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold secured qualification with a 100% success rate in the penalty shootout against Switzerland.
And in the semi-final against the Netherlands, the winning goal was created by two players who came off the bench, with Ollie Watkins scoring after an assist from Cole Palmer.
“I was wondering when the changes would come. They have come at the right time,” praised former international Alan Shearer, who has been highly critical of Southgate until now.
However, the coach knows that to be remembered he needs a trophy, even if he has built a team that has been able to fight for titles after so many years.
That light at the end of the tunnel is at stake in next Sunday’s (14) final, against Spain, in Berlin.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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