England manager remains impressively unruffled as he blocks out the criticism that followed the tepid draw with the USAAt times like these, you really have to hand it to Gareth Southgate. Suffocating tension, an underwhelming performance, the fans booing and he remains inscrutable, immaculate, not a bead on him.When you have lived what Southgate has lived – two World Cups as an England player, now into his second as the manager – it is easier to put a game like Friday night’s slog against the USA into perspective, to blot out the noise. Continue reading...
Gareth Southgate’s team delivered a performance protest but perhaps this should be expected at World Cup of bad energyHow to control the narrative, how to cool the air, to reverse the fevered expectation of an early tournament romp? Well, that was certainly one way.Who knows, perhaps there was an element of masterful long-game vibes-chess about England’s performance against the USA in the gleaming shell that is Al Bayt stadium. Continue reading...
Milan defender’s poor displays against Chelsea could cost him a place in England’s squad to QatarAt this rate Gareth Southgate is going to have to bow to public pressure and stuff his team with all the attackers when England face Iran in their opening game at the World Cup next month.The defensive concerns are mounting for England’s manager. If the possibility of John Stones returning from the hamstring injury that forced him off against Germany last month is a positive, then it is counteracted by Harry Maguire’s exile from Manchester United’s starting XI and Kyle Walker undergoing groin surgery last week. Even someone with Walker’s recovery speed will find it hard to win the race to be fit for Qatar...
Tainted Qatar 2022 is unlikely to be won by Gareth Southgate’s side, but lose in the wrong manner and it could cost him his jobNine years ago the then new chairman of the Football Association, Greg Dyke, spoke of his aims for England’s men’s football team. “I want to set the whole of English football two targets,” he said. “The first is for the England team to at least reach the semi-finals of the Euro Championship in 2020 and the second is for us to win the World Cup in 2022.”So far better than expected then – but one big step to come, win the blood-soaked, tainted World Cup in Qatar. It always seemed a ridiculous target on which to...
After helter skelter draw with Germany, Gareth Southgate must be ruthless and must start with one of his generalsFarewell, then, to all that. We will meet again: at the Khalifa International Stadium, Doha in eight weeks’ time as a matter of fact. But this felt like something else, a final trip to Wembley, probably, surely, for Gareth Southgate six years into this odyssey.And if this is to be a last note in that flip-book – so many memories: the fine results, the tepid midweek draws, the gakked-up post lockdown riot squad – there was at last a sense of familiar faces and old habits. Not to mention a shock of life too from this team that isn’t quite ready to...