This is what I wrote about Gareth Southgate 19 months ago – Sounds familiar? | OneFootball

That is what I wrote in an article for The Mag in the aftermath of Gareth Southgate overseeing England’s defeat against France in the Al Bayt Stadium at the Qatar World Cup in December 2022.

‘England’s performance at major tournaments under Gareth Southgate has been better than those who he’s followed into the hot seat, but let’s face it, Gormless Gareth has choked at the semi-final and now quarter-final stage of the World Cup and at the last hurdle in the Euros.

Add to that, the way in which England capitulated at the semi-final stage of the Nations League, it’s clear he’s not a winner, even a Micky Mouse tin-pot tournament eluded him.

And, it’s equally clear that his continued presence will not deliver silverware at the next European Championships, which according to his contract, he is entitled to have a tilt at.

Team tactics, formation and an intractable, obstinate insistence on favouring a select few, no matter their club form or who is waiting in the wings, has been Gormless Gareth’s downfall.’

It all sounds depressingly familiar and although Gareth Southgate ditched the likes of Jack Grealish before the squad left for Germany, my assessment 19 months on hasn’t really changed.

And yet, Southgate once again stands on the precipice of glory; England are just two matches from being crowned European Champions.

My hunch is that they will win against Holland and qualify for the final on Wednesday evening in Dortmund, then depending on who makes it out of the other semi-final being played 24 hours earlier in Munich, England might well achieve the impossible.

Whilst I cannot see them beating Spain, I think France are there for the taking and there is no guarantee Spain will get past the French.

Whatever the outcome, Southgate has navigated his way to a third semi-final as England manager and the statistic that his friends in the media have been trotting out is that he has won more tournament knock-out matches than his thirteen predecessors managed between them from 1968 to 2016. That’s right, pre-Southgate, England had won just six knockout games in half a century whilst he’s done it on eight occasions now.

So, this is the most sustained period of success in the history of the England football team and whilst that might come as a surprise, the fact is, England have been bang average since they won the World Cup in 1966 and even then, that was after a Soviet linesman did them a huge favour in extra time.

However, if you dig deeper and examine Southgate’s knock-out record, it’s fair to say the opposition that he’s overcome has not been top notch.

Columbia and Sweden in 2018, a faltering Germany, together with Ukraine and Denmark in 2021 and Senegal in 2022 have all been despatched. You can now add those big hitters from Slovakia and Switzerland to that list.

When Southgate has faltered, it’s been against opposition that can undress you.

Although it was Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic who scored for Croatia in 2018, it was Luka Modric and Ivan Rakatic who ultimately did for him in the World Cup semi-final at the Luzhniki Stadium. In the Euro Final of 2021, it was those seasoned campaigners, Italy who took home the trophy, whilst in Qatar, it was probably as much about Harry Kane’s ridiculous penalty miss as it was the goals that Aurélien Tchouaméni and Olivier Giroud scored, with Mbappe a constant threat and Antoine Griezmann pulling the strings in midfield.

For me, this is the concern should England come up against Spain in Berlin next Sunday. Teams don’t often lose big matches by big margins but I fear the same fate that was dealt to Brazil (losing 7-1 to Germany) in the World Cup semi-final in Bello Horizonte in 2014 awaits, if England don’t improve.

I’ve heard some commentators say that you have to play someone in the knockout stages of a tournament and that there will be fillers, but the luck that Southgate has had and the opposition he has faced, is nothing short of crazy.

Consider that when the French won the World Cup Final against Croatia in 2018, they had to find a way past Argentina, Uruguay and an in-form Belgium beforehand; Italy had to see off Austria, Belgium and Spain before putting England to the sword in the final of the Euros in 2021 and Argentina had to beat France, Croatia, Holland and Australia to become World Champions in 2022.

Whilst there might be a reasonable case for the defence if you consider what Gareth Southgate has done off the field, let’s face it, Southgate just isn’t a very good manager.

He fails miserably at team selection where there’s either square pegs fitted into round holes, or too many that are out of form being curried favour time and again.

Southgate is terrible at the in-game tactical stuff, pondering his next move whilst being undone by the opposing manager, and he would implode in elite club football – just imagine the hilarity if he were to actually succeed Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford!

Despite the relative success, watching Southgate’s England these past eight years has been openly painful, a trip to the dentist seemingly a more attractive proposition. And yet, thousands have travelled to Germany in expectation and the fan parks back home are packed.

Whilst there is more than a degree of toxicity surrounding Gareth Southgate right now, and has been for some time (I appreciate my article does nothing to change the narrative), I suppose it might just be the case that we shouldn’t begrudge him what he’s achieved and hope upon hope that England can find a way despite their manager’s many faults.