Time for change to end the hurt
It’s no longer year’s of hurt, it’s a lifetime of bruising. I was still a few weeks from being born in 1966, so I have been on this entire journey.
Spain were crowned worthy Euro 2024 Champions last night, and although England resumed the role of plucky crusaders, we never really laid a glove on them.
They were good, but surely we can be so much better. Spain are an example of a team that wanted to win, and England a team who didn’t want to lose.
Also, once again when we did get a sucker punch on them we instantly resorted back to our corner. By the end we had run out of luck and it appeared ideas and fitness, but although it was hardly a joyous journey, it was still a journey and Southgate and team did once more lift belief that we are within a whisker of it coming home.
Two back to back Euro finals is not to be sniffed at, and this time we bettered France, Portugal, Italy and our German hosts, but laying in bed last night it only made me more annoyed that we lost to Italy three years ago.
We weren’t better than a youthful exciting Spain, but we were much better than an ageing and insipid Italy. So very annoying and now we have to recover and start all over again.
I would prefer that without Gareth Southgate, although good alternatives are sparse, but we need a manager who can get this team of individual winners to win together.
Blend Foden and Bellingham, unleash Saka, find a place for the ice-cool Palmer, Guehi and Konsa to begin a new generational partnership, find replacements for Walker and Kane, but so many of the pieces are already there.
Southgate has been a master of man-management and has changed beyond all recognition what we had been fed for so many years previously. He changed mentality, culture, virtues and optimism. Yet he could not change the most important thing and that was winning.
The next person has to grab all of what Gareth Southgate, Steve Holland and his staff built, but be a far more multifaceted coach.
We cannot expect a similar bumbling ride to a final again. We have world class attacking players, but we had to rely on individual brilliance to win games, even five brilliant penalties. Teams and bravery wins titles.
I want to see an England team with these players dominate matches and play high up the pitch. Watching players who for their clubs are so incisive with the ball pass it sideways five metres is dumb and counterintuitive.
The sitting back is so baffling to watch, and time and again we were unable to transition quickly as our offensive players were sitting so deep.
This always felt like Southgate’s last tournament but as I said at the start of this Euros he reconnected me to the national team and lifted my hopes, so I thank him for that.
The bruising will heel for us English but congratulations to Spain, who won every game, and beat Croatia, Italy, Germany and France on the way.
I couldn’t agree more it has been disheartening to watch the way England play with all the talent that has been available. we were very lucky to survive the group rounds. 58 years and counting is a long time to wait. I was very fortunate to be at Wembley in 66 and can still recall the euphoria when the final whistle went. I just want England to win a final again so everyone can share that feeling too.
Hi CA I hope you are well I totally agree with every comment you made in this post I admire Southgate and disagree with the rubbish on social media that is been thrown around his loyalty to Harry Kane was admirable but Kanes lack of form was blindingly obvious from the start of the tournament for everyone to see and Southgate’s refusal to bench him and play the more than capable replacements ultimately cost us the tournament….. a faint heart never won fair maiden but good luck and thank you Mr Southgate thank you for the memories ⚽️⚽️⚽️🏴
Southgate has been a good manager for England – not too long ago under SGE, McClaren, Capello etc we would have given a lot to see an England team in the top four of Fifa’s world rankings, make two major finals and also the SF of the WC etc. However just like those managers he seems to have drifted too far into dull, safety first football and picking favourites (eg Kane, Rice) regardless of the how the overall team functions.
Sometimes you need to gamble and make a bit of luck, I got the strategy of negating Spain in the first half but after the break they stepped up a gear, scored a goal and they really should have had a second or third and that was the difference between the two sides. It was only when Palmer and Watkins came on that we looked good but after the equaliser it was back to square/back passes slowing things down and allowing Spain to get back in defence and plug any gaps. We didn’t deserve to win.
This tournament we looked flat as though the players were running on fumes, but the players and management team will in time look back at their caution and regret it.
Where do we go from here? Maybe someone like Tuchel could come in, but whatever happens we need to be careful to build on what we have and not destroy too much before rebuilding. We have the right players it’s just not necessarily playing in the right order.
No doubt you are reflecting the conventional wisdom among fans and Southgate looks likely to go which is probably right. However, I am sceptical that a new manager will do any better, even if he delivers the all out attack that fans want. I think that the players as a unit are not as good as they our made out to be, they don’t have much time to gell. Most of Spain’s players come from three clubs and a much smaller total overall.
I feel less upset at the defeat by Spain than I did at the penalty debacle defeat to Italy last time out.
Spain were the better team on the night.
As you say Chig we got further than Italy, Germany, France and Portugal. That of course was because we didn’t have to play any of them.
We muddled through the group section. Bored our way to the quarters. Just briefly coming to life in the semi.
I believe Southgate has had eight years at the helm. I also believe it’s time for him to move aside.
As an aside; Harry Kane looked a shadow of his former self. He got many more minutes than his form deserved.
This is the first time I’ve watched England in a tournament in years.
Wish I hadn’t bothered, feels like nothings changed, totally boring to watch. The team felt like a collective, Ray “the Crab” Wilkins, endless sideways and backwards passing. Negativity abounds, like the British Psyche!
How can a team with so much potential, be so ineffective? It has to come from the manager and that’s not a wish to pillory Southgate but it has to reflect his mentality and all those who went before him.
It may be a very long time before I bother watching England again.
Spain were the best team throughout the tournament, nobody can argue that. We stumbled and stuttered through the group stages and quarter final. Looked good in the first half of the semi (with the help of a dubious penalty) until Koemans added an extra midfielder at the break, and snuffed out our threat. Yes we reached the final and that was great, but let’s face it, we had probably the easiest group to qualify from, and didn’t have to face any of the top teams on the way through. Would we have beaten Germany, France, Portugal, Belgium, Spain in the earlier stages, I doubt it.
Thank you Gareth for your efforts through the last eight years, but it is time to move on and let a manager take the helm who plays the modern game.
Totally agree CA, it’s strange how everytime we went behind in a game we suddenly came back on the front foot and as soon as we got back into the game and scored, we went back to our old selves of mostly defending and playing in our own half!
Southgate is a really nice person as you have said, but unfortunately he always likes to play safe and doesn’t really have the know how to press on by putting on the right players when required. Harry Kane a prime example, who was so slow and in nearly every game apart from scoring a couple and a penalty, did absolutely nothing up front to assist the other forwards, a top manager would have replaced him in the starting line several games ago, no matter who the player was, or had him off at half time, but Southgate just kept sticking by him as he was his favourite and the Captain!
It appears on the whole, he must instruct the players once they are back on level pegging, whatever you do make sure you don’t concede another goal, rather than lets go for it, press them as this is your chance to acheive something!
As I have said before, they play like Charlton, mostly backwards and sideways passing in their own half, which won’t get you anything as you can’t score a goal from there! Whereas good teams like Spain, play their sideways and backwards passing in the opponents half, so they have the opportunity to move and have efforts on goal very quickley, when it arrises.
We need a no nonsense Brian Clough type manager, who didn’t always have the best players to hand, but could get the very best out of the whole team as a unit and use his tactics, to defeat teams with better players. Plus he also tried to play with flair and entertaining football and have a go, not just sit back. Probabaly a similar manager to Clough to play like that and also get the supporters on their feet really behind the team is Klopp!
If England played like Liverpool, the supporters would love it and also wouldn’t be so critical if they did lose, if every player had given their all and played on the front foot, rather than the tedious boring football mostly played in our own half! Which in truth, has not won us anything, since 1966, when England did mostly play a similar game on the front foot!
We now have so called fitter and better players, so if England suddenly went back to having actual wingers who took players on at every oppertunity and really pressed teams, without all this sideways and backwards passing, it would really confuse the oppostion as they would not be use to it and it may just work. Well it’s just a thought! 😀
Just hearing that Gareth Southgate has walked away. I don’t blame him. As you quite rightly say CA, he has transformed the whole nature of playing for England. Like you i only go back as far as Mexico ’70. Years of disappointment indeed. Two finals, one semi final and one quarter final is a remarkable record. Certainly better than anyone else since 1970. Southgate can be proud of his achievements.
In my opinion Southgate’s biggest crime was raising expectations to the level where they were touted as favourites. In truth, we are no where near that level. Yes we have good individual players, but we are not a great team.
Be careful what you wish for England fans. Qualification struggles, and early tournament exists are just a breath away.
Now lets get onto the really important stuff…can Charlton get out of this horrible division under Nathan Jones.
Come on you reds!
Definitely time for change…..we have the players with the quality to play the high press attacking game……lets get a manager in who will use them.
He’s resigned.
Thanks to Southgate for transforming the English team scene, his man management loyalty and decency took him and England along way. It also stopped him from making the right call wrt Harry Kane, he couldn’t drop a mate, Kane should have been a sub (“finisher” in both senses).
Optimistic that the next manager may play attractive football, I was as comatose as its possible to be during those games without actually going to sleep.