Should Gareth Southgate be given another tournament as England manager?
After last night's Euro final defeat against Spain there is a morning clamour for Gareth Southgate to walk. There seems to be a growing consensus of both his inability to beat bigger teams as well as his rigidity when it comes to in-game tactical tweaks and substitutions. On top of that his languid style of play given the abundance of talent in the squad is demoralising to watch.
For all these criticisms there’s proof too. In seven games at Euro 2024, two of which went to extra time, England created an XG of 6.43, less than a goal a game.
Croatia, who played three games and went out in the groups, created an XG 7.10. This is not the attacking threat many hoped for when examining England’s attacking arsenal. They’re usual front four had 114 goals between them (Kane 44, Foden 27, Bellingham 23, Saka 20).
In fact, they nearly had more goals from the bench with Palmer, Watkins, Bowen and Eze scoring 85 goals amongst themselves. To put it into perspective, Spain’s front four of Morata, Williams, Yamal and Olmo scored 44 goals between them in all competitions last season.
44 goals. Nearly half of the 85 goals of England’s reserve front four. Yet, on the night Spain creates 2.31 expected goals and England created 0.63.
In addition to the boring watch, fans appeal to Southgate’s inflexibility. His unwillingness to drop a big name in place of Cole Palmer or slow to make substitutions.
In the Euro final, Roberto Mancini made two substitutions around the 55-minute mark. 10 minutes later they scored. Yet Southgate waited until we conceded to make a change in the 71st minute, having to respond to Mancini’s tactical intuition. The same was true in the quarter final exit to France where Southgate’s first substitution was in the 79th minute, a minute after Giroud put the French 2-1 up.
It has to be said that in game tactics are not Southgate’s strength and rather than “big teams” it is “big managers” that he seems to fall short against.
Indeed, former Premier League manager Roberto Martinez managed Belgium in 2018. Premier League winning manager Roberto Mancini managed Italy in 2021 and World Cup winning manager Didier Deschamps managed France in 2022. Gareth Southgate’s CV has only a relegation with Middlesborough on it.
However, in game tactical tweaks are only one facet of what it takes to be a great manager. Player development, recruitment and pre-game setup are all important areas of the job. Another area that contributes is the atmosphere that they build around the team and the fans.
Any great coach can lose the dressing room prompting the air to turn toxic on the training ground and in the newspapers. And it is in this department that Gareth Southgate has really shone. He has undoubtedly galvanised a team, confronted their penalty woes and unified a nation.
Although this all seems to be just uplifting words no one will ever truly be able to quantify the positive effect that this has had on results. One only has to look at our previous golden generation under the management of foreign personnel to see the potential effect.
Gareth Southgate is a former England player and has the respect of both the fans and the team and has created a warm family buzz to the team that is invaluable. That loyalty, that respect, that atmosphere isn’t something you can just buy. It is a beautiful and rare phenomenon that only occurs ever so often.
Moreover, this tournament has shown Southgate is learning, is changing no matter how slowly. In the semi final he brought Trippier off at half time and showed his own tactical intuition to bring on Watkins and Palmer when the game was at 1-1.
The Southgate of old may have sailed through to extra time and penalties but the refined Southgate felt the game was there for the taking with the Dutch players tired after chasing down English possession for so long.
Above all, this exemplifies that Southgate, like all humans, is able to take criticism on board, learn from his mistakes and adapt and improve as a manager.
People say his run to the final was easy and, indeed it was. The seven teams that England faced this tournament had a world ranking average of 27. However, don't think that easy opponents are something exclusive to Southgate as England’s 2006 World Cup campaign was against opponents with an average world ranking of 36.
Therefore, in light of my defence, I conclude by positing that Southgate should be given the chance to lead the team into the 2026 World Cup and until he can no longer engender the collectiveness onto this group of players and the fans.
However, if the FA do decide to make a change, the next England manager odds for Southgate’s replacement suggests there are three key contenders:
Next England Manager Odds
| Next England Manager | Best Odds | Bet With |
|---|---|---|
| Graham Potter | 5/4 | BetMGM |
| Eddie Howe | 4/1 | BetMGM |
| Mauricio Pochettino | 11/2 | bet365 |
Graham Potter Next England Manager Odds
Graham Potter (5/4 favourite on BetMGM) has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea last season. Although his time at Stamford Bridge was turbulent, it was only in running with the state of affairs at the club itself and he may be better judged by his time at Brighton where he guided the club to successive campaigns with record point tallies before leading them to a top ten finish in his third season.
An English candidate although he only managed one game for the Under 21’s in 1996. He is a far more progressive coach then Southgate, being known to deploy an array of formations at Swansea and Ostersund.
To back Graham Potter to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager directly through oddschecker at a guaranteed best price, click here.
Eddie Howe Next England Manager Odds
Another English candidate is Eddie Howe (4/1 BetMGM) who currently serves as the manager of Newcastle. However, news of their owners selling up as cast doubts over his position.
His reign on Tyneside has undoubtedly been a successful one as he led them back to champions league football for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Although a centre back in his playing days, Howe’s Newcastle side scored a record 85 goals last season in 38 games.
Mauricio Pochettino Next England Manager Odds
Another ex-Chelsea manager, Pochettino (11/2 best price on bet365) has arguably achieved the most on this list. At Southampton he recorded their highest league finish and at Tottenham he did the same whilst also leading them to a Champions League final.
He won the league with PSG after that, a place where Emery and Tuchel have also struggled in the recent past and had a good relationship with English players like Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher at Chelsea. A high pressing, attacking coach, Pochettino may be a quintessential example of improved managerial tweaks in place of that special ex-player connection.
Betfred
- Huge range of regular promotions
- 24/7 live chat service
- PickYourPunt builder for custom bets
How to Claim 60 in Free Bets on BetMGM
- Click here to take you to the BetMGM £60 free bets offer and click “Sign Up”
- Register a new account with BetMGM and enter all the required details
- Select the £60 welcome offer from the welcome promotion options
- Place a £10 bet at odds of 1/1 or greater on sport
- When your qualifying wager has been settled, you will be credited with £60 in free bets
