In the bowels of Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday night, a footballing coliseum that had just played host to its latest fittingly epic moment, Gareth Southgate got to the nub of it all. This was why sport, with all its nonsense and ugliness, will drag us back in time and again — especially those, like the England manager, who have seen enough to know better.
Ollie Watkins' goal in the final second of normal time snatched an unforgettable 2-1 win over the Netherlands, booking a place in Sunday's Euro 2024 final against a formidable Spain. After reaching the showpiece on home soil three years ago, Southgate had done it again. England's senior men's team were into their first-ever major final overseas. Adrenaline pulsed and emotions swirled.
"We all want to be loved, right?" Southgate said, reflecting on post-match celebrations that felt primal and guttural after a period when relations between the coach and his public have been strained. "When you're doing something for your country and you're a proud Englishman, when you don't feel that back and when all you read is criticism, it's hard.
"If I hadn't been on the grass, I'd have been watching, celebrating like they [the fans] were. We are kindred spirits in many ways but, of course, I'm the one who has to pick a team. So, to be able to give them a night like tonight, it's very special."
Gareth Southgate and England is a love story: sometimes an ecstatic one, but just as often an unhappy marriage. Familiarity has bred both contempt and deep contentment. And it all started with a heady 1990s summer romance halted by heartbreak.
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Gareth Southgate's England love story: What happened at Euro 96?
England hosted the 1996 European Championship having failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. It meant manager Terry Venables had to subside on a two-year diet of friendlies, honing his side for an expectant nation.
Southgate was a relatively late addition, making his debut in December 1995, but his ability as a ball-playing defender made him a mainstay. The then-25-year-old played every minute of England's run to the semifinals as a country united behind its team. This was the first tournament soundtracked by "Three Lions". The first time "it" was "coming home".
He'd have been remembered solely as one of the breakout stars of the tournament but for a misstep that became an origin story. After 120 nerve-fraying minutes, England and Germany were locked at 1-1 and went to penalties, just as they had in the World Cup semifinal six years earlier. Like that night in Turin, the shootout became a moment of defining emotional trauma for the national sport.
Following 10 perfect penalties, Southgate stepped up for England's first sudden-death kick. He rushed his run-up and Andreas Koepke kept out a tamely struck kick down to his right.
"I have had a couple of decades thinking it through," Southgate said, reflecting on that nadir while leading England at the 2018 World Cup. "I was a volunteer, really. The type of character I was, I felt you should put yourself forward. It is probably braver not to if you are not confident."
Southgate had the sympathy of an anguished fanbase that saw what was then a mere 30 years of hurt go on. He starred in a Pizza Hut commercial alongside Chris Waddle and Stuart Pearce, who erred from 12 yards in 1990. He played 57 times for his country and featured in England's tournament squads in 1998, 2000 and 2002.
But he remained Poor Gareth, the lad who missed the penalty. At least, that was the case until he became England Under-21 manager in 2013, four years on from an underwhelming stint in charge of Middlesbrough that featured relegation from the Premier League.
Southgate was appointed as the Football Association's head of elite development in 2011, based at English football's gleaming new St George's Park HQ. His elevation to the Under-21 job and the group-stage elimination of a talented team at the 2015 European Championship set a perception of a company man and a stuffed shirt who lacked elite coaching acumen. Incredibly, when considering all the water under the bridge, it's one that endures.
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Southgate, you're the one...
It's hard to overstate what an abject mess the England national team was in when Southgate took over, initially on an interim basis in October 2016. The impossible job had become the job no one wanted.
Iceland humiliated the Three Lions by knocking them out of Euro 2016, ending Roy Hodgson's reign. Sam Allardyce then showed what can happen when a gregarious everyman who loves the sound of his own voice is given a very public position.
Southgate took over a team disconnected from its supporters, viewed with either embarrassment or indifference. It meant an emotionally intelligent and fundamentally decent man had some space to shape what he wanted the national team to be and what it could mean.
A fairly modest playing group heading into the 2018 World Cup in Russia meant an opportunity for collectiveness where there had been cliques and a sense of adventure where there had been apprehension.
"I always say being an island saved us in 1945. I'm not so sure it's helped us ever since," Southgate said in March 2017, after being given the England job on a permanent basis. "I think we've got to broaden the horizons. It's understandable: the lads see one league, they see Sky Sports News. They think we're the centre of the Earth and we're not."
At a time when England was still in thrall to what felt like a vicious brand of backwards-looking patriotic exceptionalism — the scars of division from the UK's Brexit vote still fresh — Southgate's instinct to always look outwards and towards what might unite felt quietly revolutionary. For decades, England had asked variants of the question: "Why can't we win when we're the best?" Southgate gently but firmly reframed this to be: "We're not the best, so how can we be?"
England tore up pre-tournament predictions of struggle and surged into their first semifinal since their manager's woes at Euro 96. Those demons were also laid to rest as they beat Colombia on spot-kicks in the last 16. For decades, England had shrugged its shoulders over the misfortune of shootout defeats. Not Southgate.
"Definitely, it's not about luck. It's not about chance. It's about performing a skill under pressure," he said. "There are individual things you can work on within that. We have to know who is in charge, who needs to get out of the way, who can speak with clarity to the players. There is lots we can do to own the process and not be controlled by it."
That, more than any other, was the Summer of Gareth. It's become a boorish performative cliche now, but when England fans hurled beer all over each other during the 6-0 group-stage win over Panama, it was because they could not believe how good this all felt after decades of drudgery.
There was no shame in defeat to a Croatia team masterfully conducted by Luka Modric. But England led in Moscow before giving up control, dropping deep and losing the game in extra time. The manner of the loss and the wider circumstances were the source of criticism that Southgate has never been able to shake. The early Euro 2024 vitriol started here.
Who had they played anyway? England had a soft route to the final, you see. If you counted the group-stage dead rubber and third-place playoff against Belgium, they lost as many games as they won. And they only really scored from set-pieces or penalties.
Southgate's England duly kicked on, claiming a revenge win over Croatia and defeating Spain in Seville to secure a spot in the inaugural UEFA Nations League Finals. On a rain-sodden night in Guimaraes, they lost their semifinal to the Netherlands in extra time having led. Frenkie de Jong took on the Modric role as the defeat in Russia a year earlier echoed heavily.
The difference was this played out in front of tens of thousands of England fans. Southgate's rekindling of positivity at the 2018 World Cup had the unforeseen benefit of taking place before a relatively small band of travelling fans. Russia was a tough, expensive trip with visa requirements. To get to Portugal then or Germany now, you're a budget airline away from all the local refreshments.
That week on the banks of the Douro River, there was a public debate over whether it was tasteful or not for England fans to sing "No surrender to the IRA". There were flags trumpeting English military successes, including the 1415 Battle of Agincourt. The "Two World Wars, One World Cup" lads were well represented. It's safe to say they are not Southgate's people.
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Southgate, politics and 'wokeism'
Southgate has had no qualms over sounding like a motivational LinkedIn poster from time to time. Encouraging his players to tell their stories off the field and write their history on it has been an empowering constant of his tenure.
Raheem Sterling spoke out about racist media coverage of Black players. Marcus Rashford was at the forefront of a campaign in the UK to ensure children from economically disadvantaged communities did not go hungry during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the build-up to the delayed Euro 2020 tournament in the summer of 2021, England players took a knee before kickoff in a home friendly against Austria at the Riverside Stadium to protest racial injustice. A section of the COVID-limited home crowd booed its own team.
"We feel more determined than ever to take the knee," Southgate said before a game against Romania at the same ground, where the gesture was once again booed. "Those people should put themselves in the shoes of the young players. How would they feel if their kids were in that situation? We accept there might be an adverse reaction, and we're just going to ignore that and move forward."
This refusal to bow to the mob was notable. Southgate made it clear that his duty was to his players, their protection and their empowerment. He felt this would give England a team to be proud of, compelling fans to get on board. It proved to be a largely accurate calculation, but he's taken a share of arrows since choosing the path of most resistance.
Populist choices might ease turbulence in the short term, but what about when you need your players to go to the well in the final minute of a knockout game? Southgate has his players' backs and they have his. It's why, despite their flaws, this team works.
Loyalty to his players has led to missteps. When Jordan Henderson — previously a vocal ally of the LGBTQ+ community — played for England after his move to Saudi Arabia, he was booed. "He is a role model in the squad, I don't understand it," Southgate said. "I know what's created it but it defies logic that you would give a player who is playing and putting his heart and soul into playing for England... why boo him?"
It was a disappointing retreat and one that people of privilege can make. Others don't have the luxury of opting in or out of visibly caring about minority discrimination when it suits. On the other hand, Southgate had taken on more than his share of difficult and emotive issues for little thanks. His statesmanlike presence as the head of the men's national team has unquestionably been a net positive for a country too often in thrall to binary culture wars.
"I don’t regret it because I think this is a position of responsibility," he told UK newspaper reporters on the eve of the Euro 2024 final. "You have a chance to make a difference in things that are important. I have my values. I never wanted to impose my values on people. But I think there are some fundamental human values that, if you get the chance to model them, then you should.
"I think those values are important. We live in what’s been an angry country. I would love that to be different as we move forward. Hopefully we can bring some temporary happiness. But we’re not going to change our country either. Maybe we can deliver some good examples."
Is Gareth Southgate a good manager?
Which brings us to maybe the most common shorthand assessment of Southgate. "He's a nice bloke, but…"
Croatia 2018, Netherlands 2019, Italy in the Euro 2020 final. Games England led, in which they went into their shells, and then failed to win. Southgate might have a good plan to start with, but in-game he is hesitant, showing the flaws of limited club experience. His are tactics by handbook rather than well-grooved instinct.
That was fine when he had to field Ashley Young at wing-back in 2018, but this England team has the best player in the Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga from 2023/24. They need better.
England have reached three semifinals in their past four tournaments, having been in three semis between winning the 1966 World Cup and Southgate's journey through Russia half a century later. But they've had soft runs, right? They only failed to reach a semifinal in this era at the 2022 World Cup. England probably played their best football under Southgate but ran into France who were — uh, oh — really good.
The same criticisms will rear their head if they lose in Berlin on Sunday. "Spain were the first decent team they played…"
All of which are understandable gripes. But it's fair to ask where these fantastical standards to which Southgate fails to measure up come from. England should be winning a tournament with world-class players: say, for example, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, Gary Neville, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen. Guys like that? Oh, and if only their 2024 counterparts had a coach with a background of elite club-level achievement. How about today's version of Fabio Capello or Sven-Goran Eriksson?
All of these people tried, failed and got nowhere near what Southgate and his players have achieved. His England are not the sporting island nation he picked up battered and bruised; they looked outwards to unturn every stone for every marginal gain, from the psychology of penalty taking — no one rushes like young Gareth did in '96 — to the importance of sleep. Players love being with England. Maybe people working in an environment like this are that bit more likely to get lucky.
In an age of every other person fancying themselves as a tactics expert, this can sound like specious guff. But it's worked time and again. No one with a head attached to their shoulders would argue Southgate is a superior tactician to Italy boss Luciano Spalletti. But one man is in another final and the other left early as he argued in lewd terms with journalists about leaks and conspiracies.
ONE MORE. 😤 pic.twitter.com/Zp0dGR4L6x
— England (@England) July 11, 2024
Spalletti didn't have to deal with the indignity of fans hurling abuse and beer cups at him, either. But that was just another barrier for Southgate to plough through in bloody-minded fashion. His team might have looked like other bad versions of England during the early stages of Euro 2024, but they didn't fail like them. In part because their manager wouldn't let them.
"There is a lot to take in, a lot in my mind," he said after beating the Netherlands. "I am delighted for the supporters here. They were incredible. When we have got the supporters with us, as they are now, the energy that brings is immense."
They'll need all that energy for one final push towards history, a push that can be made with Southgate having stitched his disparate coalition together again. If England, his England, get the job done on his terms against a magnificent Spain on Sunday, he will never want for love again.
