How the most patient man in English football finally lost it

Posted by Admin July 8, 2024 Football

BLANKENHAIN — “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” Harvey Dent says to Bruce Wayne when discussing Batman in one of the most haunting and profound lines from The Dark Knight.

It applies to many historic figures and describes a similar trajectory followed by Gareth Southgate as England manager: the unlikely hero who revived a national team and led them to a World Cup semi-final and a European Championship final, yet here he is in Germany, in the last four yet again but somehow, eight years after taking the job, in the eyes of so many the villain.

On the way here he has had plastic beer cups thrown at him, had his team described as “s**t” by one of the most influential figures in English football, heard his team booed at half-time, full-time, even during games when the players have been passing the ball around the defence too much.

There was euphoria after the incredible set of penalties against Switzerland that sent England into the semis — Southgate pumping his arms on the pitch in an endearing dad dance with the fans one of the rare moments he has allowed his emotions to spill over.

He had just guided the team to a third semi-final in four tournaments — more than England had seen in the previous 50 years. No other nation has been more consistent in recent history.

But when he walked into his post-match press conference, deep in Dusseldorf Arena, to reflect on the occasion, if Southgate thought he was stepping into a celebration he would have been bitterly disappointed.

Instead he faced questions about the lack of entertainment and their “easy” tournament opponents.

It had started relatively jovially, but then Southgate was asked about Jordan Pickford having penalty instructions written on his water bottle and he vented, sharing his frustrations that in the build-up to the tournament England’s preparations had been revealed to all by experts who had worked with him to fix that particular problem in 2018.

That he lost the “element of surprise” when his decision to switch formation to a back three for the first time in the tournament had been revealed three days before the game.

“A lot of our processes have been shared,” he said, with an exasperated laugh.

Another question asked if there was “any thought of entertainment when you plan games, when you plan the way you play, for the neutrals? Because being not easy on the eye is part of the game”.

Southgate looked taken aback, mustering a measured answer and concluding that “none of this stuff is easy. But we’re in a third semi-final in four tournaments. And for the staff and players involved in that… yeah I think that’s a pretty good achievement.”