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NAPLES So begins the last cycle of Gareth Southgate, England manager. Such was his internal struggle before deciding to stay on for another 18 months, it is unthinkable that Southgate remains beyond Euro 2024. He will win the tournament and dance off into the sunset, swelled with pride and vindication (and some people still saying actually, but). Or he wont win it and will leave as Englands great just-not-quite with a side order of spite.

There were entire eras when England would have clung on to just-not-quite as if it were the holy grail. The viciousness of the criticism of Southgate is unequivocally at odds with his comparative achievement in the role. He is, without doubt, Englands most successful manager since Alf Ramsey, but there will be those reading that statement who now have a deep frown on their face or spittle appearing in the corners of their mouths.

To an extent, this reflects the inevitable erosion of patience that occurs over time. Or, to be more blunt: youve had three goes at it now, pal, and we still havent won. For that, Southgate has probably paid the price for early promise. England had suffered two decades of misery during which they never even shared a postcode with glory, let alone stared it square in the face. But you cant show people diamonds and then try to flog them rhinestones, even at half the price.

The general charge is that Southgate is, to be frank, a bottler. That he has taken England so far but cannot lead them over the line because he is tactically conservative and perhaps just a little afraid. Even his sartorial charm, the waistcoat that became an improbable fashion icon in 2018, is now a symbol of his inherent safeness. Southgate has a deliberate lack of sharp edges, a good company man. He arrived when England craved that comfort. Now perhaps were ready to date a bad boy again.

Within that general theory, more specific, nuanced charges lie. The most obvious is that England benefited from easy paths through tournaments until they didnt, at which point they lost. To which the evident retort is: err, Romania 2000, Russia and Croatia 2008, Costa Rica 2014, Iceland 2016. If only beating half-decent teams (and Germany) at major tournaments is a problem, we have come a long way after all.

Southgate is certainly loyal to those he knows and trusts perhaps to a fault. There is no better place to improve your reputation than in the cold air just outside the England squad or team. But much of this debate rages along lines of club loyalty and inherent personal preference. The only tenet on which everyone should agree is that you will never please everybody.

For all that Southgates critics insist that he has the deepest talent pool in our history (and it is an argument that carries some merit), how many of the current crop is in the top three of their position in the world? Harry Kane almost certainly. And thenwho? You can make arguments for Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka based on current form and potential, but thats it. Between 1995 and 2005, five different Englishmen finished in the top three of the Ballon dOr. Since then, players of 11 different nationalities have none of them were English.

In cycles past, criticism of the England manager was mitigated by the character of their players. The difference now is not in the quality of the squad (those overseen by Glenn Hoddle in 1998 and Sven Goran Eriksson in 2002 were surely better), but the manner in which they seem to embrace playing for their country. Gone are the big club cliques, gone are the egos and gone are the Ballon dOr podium finishers. England are, in every sense, a team. And while Southgate deserves credit for creating that culture, it now punishes him. Blaming the players for not caring enough or not giving enough no longer works so you blame the manager.

At the heart of the Southgate debate is a quasi-philosophical quandary. Picture this: you are given a group of footballers that contains far better attacking players than defenders. That leaves you with two choices: throw caution to the wind and attack (aiming to maximise your strengths) or protect the defenders by playing with control and relying upon the attackers to create enough moments of danger (aiming to minimise your weaknesses).

Southgate is a tactical pragmatist he has chosen the second option. That has hardly barred England from scoring goals at major tournaments (they average over two goals per knockout game over the last two major tournaments), but in tight, high-profile matches that England havent won Croatia 2018, Italy 2021, France 2022 his critics conclude that he has missed his chance. That may well be true, but we must at least consider that Englands defence may have been exposed with the attack, attack, attack plan.

You wonder, then, whether the barbs, the slinging arrows and social media curses, say more about Southgates audience than him. Certainly, his approval rating is far higher amongst regular match-going England supporters than those who opine online. Are we generally more angry, more desperate, more in need of the distraction that a young and gifted and triumphant England team would provide? Possibly have you seen the state of the world?

The great dichotomy of the last age of Southgate is that all of this matters and none of it matters at the same time. He will be safe while he carries on winning there is no obvious British replacement. But the England managers future is ultimately decided by the court of public opinion, and that tide is now turning. If we have learnt anything over the last decade of social, political and cultural discourse, its that nobody ever changes their mind. Lose in Naples on Thursday evening, and the anger will fire up again. Win or draw and itll only be temporarily paused.

Southgate has urged all of Englands players to make the most of this Euro 2024 cycle because it may be their last chance to win a major international trophy as well as his. Although he hinted that he might stay on beyond the next major tournament if England are victorious in Germany next year.

England open their qualification campaign for Euro 2024 in Naples this evening, with Southgate fully aware that England havent beaten Italy in their own country since 1961. They have also been placed in their hardest qualification group for a major tournament in Southgates tenure, facing the European champions in their first match.

When it was suggested to Southgate that this would be his last tournament cycle as England manager, he responded, smiling: Well that depends if we win! When asked if that meant victory in the final in Germany next summer would persuade him to stay on, he said: Lets just hope weve got that opportunity to make that decision.

It is not only Southgate who must be wondering if Germany is the last shot at glory with England. Southgate has picked some of the youngest squads and starting XIs in the history of the national team, but nine of the 23-man squad named to face Italy and Ukraine will be aged 30 or above when the next European Championship begins.

But, while Southgate agrees that older players become more aware of time, the same should apply to every player in the setup.

I think you have to be careful as a player not to assume when youre younger that this might not be your last chance as well, he said. Of course, youre always going to think that youre going to have other opportunities but injury, form, new players coming through in your position you can never take that for granted. Yes, clearly the older ones know the timescale is quite clear. But everybody else has to be mindful of that as well.

The failure to make good on their potential and land a major international trophy, including the sorrow of penalties defeat to Italy and tight defeat to France in Qatar, only provides further motivation, according to Southgate.

The way we played in Qatar and then the disappointment of losing in the quarter final, that generates motivation in itself, he said. I was enthused by the reaction of the players this week. You see their excitement at coming back together. This is one of the greatest challenges anybody could have, trying to get England a trophy. The hard part is that you have to wait 18 months to get to the point where you will actually be judged.

By Layton Ryan-Parson

Nicolo Barella

Despite being small in stature, the box-to-box Inter midfielder provides a significant presence in central midfield and has excellent close control and a good passing range. He was ever-present in the Inter Milan team that won a first Serie A title in 11 years in 2021 and was crucial to Italys Euro 2020 win the same summer. The 26-year-old continues to be an integral cog for both club and country.

Mateo Retegui

An Argentine-born forward whose grandmother was born in Italy has received his first senior call-up. Retegui is something of an unknown quantity in Europe having spent his entire career to date in Argentina. Last season the striker netted 23 goals for Club Atletico Tigre catching the eye of Roberto Mancini who believes there is a lack of attacking talent being produced in Italy.

Gianluca Scamacca

The powerful striker was a big-money signing for West Ham but has slipped out of favour recently, only starting three of their 16 games since the World Cup. However, his aerial threat and ability to bring wingers into play cannot be underestimated. Given his limited impact so far in the Premier League, Scammaca will be keen to showcase his qualities and who better to do so against than England?

Originally posted here:
Gareth Southgate could win Euro 2024 and still not sway his ... - inews