Why England and Gareth Southgate were right to part ways after the European Championship loss to Spain, despite the manager’s record

Sing his name to heaven. Offer him a senior role with a holistic, but hands-off view of the England set-up. If Keir Starmer and the rest are enthusiastic, there have been far fewer worthy recipients of knighthoods than him. However, the one thing Gareth Southgate should not be offered is another blow as England manager.

On July 16, Gareth Southgate has announced he will step down as England manager. ending a nearly eight-year tenure that had begun amid the ravages of the 2016 European Championship defeat to Iceland and the dismissal of Sam Allardyce following his appointment. The England national team was at one of the lowest points in its history. Under Southgate they achieved feats that would have been unthinkable just a few years earlier. Their first European Championship final. Their second, the first time England had reached the final match of a tournament on foreign soil. A bond between a nation and its obsession is forged anew.

It is a role that Southgate has fulfilled with aplomb. Two finals decided in the final moments promise to be the defining performance of his tenure if he leaves – against the wishes of the Football Association – once his contract expires at the end of the year. However, what he has achieved is much more profound than that.

When the England men’s team took the field back in the day, a nation dreamed of simpler things. Please don’t let us be humiliated again. Managers were unable to negotiate basic concepts – umbrellas, their subordinates’ extramarital affairs, pints of wine – without making the impossible task even more hellish. For players, the England shirt was about as comfortable as an Iron Maiden. It only got worse. Fans increasingly resented aloof millionaires who were too scared or indifferent to pursue their dreams. When Southgate took over in 2016, there was no reason why a humiliating loss to Iceland due to the side’s elimination from that year’s European Championship had to be the low point. There were further depths for England to plumb.

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Southgate’s tenure has been a resounding success

Instead, England has risen. You only had to see the senseless penalties that toppled the Swiss to know that the fear of failure no longer hinders this scheme as it once did. His players are enthusiastic about his qualities. “Our relationship goes beyond just football,” said Jude Bellingham. “I feel like I can open up to him a lot.” Declan Rice added: “I’m sure the lads would love him to stay until 2026, there’s no doubt about that… Whatever he wants to do, whatever makes him happy, I’m sure he will doing.” It was the right decision, but I’m sure he has everyone’s support to stay.”

As his team believes, so does the country. For those of you reading this post in the United States, I hope that in the future you can feel the stampede of disbelief that sweeps through an entire country in the days before you find yourself on the business end of a major tournament (sorry Gold Cup and CONCACAF Nations League, That’s Not You) that you had no expectations of participating in. The days leading up to 90 minutes of largely uninterrupted misery, those days buzzing with hope and ecstasy, the heady dreams of seeing your team win one of the big prizes and the wonderful holiday to follow.

Southgate gave England that. It’s no wonder that this country, for the most part, likes its national team again.

For that reason alone, Southgate belongs in the pantheon of English managers. For most fans, he is the best in their lives. It is difficult to convey that he is not second only to 1966 winner Sir Alf Ramsey and is one of the greatest to lead the men’s team. He has made a success in ending the 60 years of pain.

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A new manager is needed to solve new problems

It’s not about what a coach has earned from his past performance, is it? It’s about who is going to tackle the problems this England team had in Germany, problems that saw them stumble towards a finish line that they couldn’t quite overcome before collapsing.

Southgate addressed some of the problems – largely cultural – inherent in the English set-up he inherited. He continued to work with them, with particular concerns during Euro 2024 about the “unusual environment” in which his players were operating. By the end of the tournament, he seemed to have solved that part of the equation again. These players no longer fear the worst, but they aren’t necessarily equipped to be their best. Only the manager can know the extent to which he is compromising the demands he might make for a happy camp, but from St George’s Park to Blankenhain the priority seems to be putting the squad at ease.

What ruthlessness there is often comes to the fore when players are back at their clubs. Wayne Rooney, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling are among those who have been eliminated quite efficiently. However, when it comes to tournaments, Southgate’s confidence runs deep. It was clear early on in the knockout stages of Euro 2024 that Harry Kane was not the man to play for Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden. During the tournament, reports emerged from concerned staff members that the captain was restricting their pressing play. His manager only concluded this when matches were passed up on his team.

That happened a lot. Only in the first half against the Netherlands, and in flashes against Switzerland and Spain, did this England team even approach the sum of its excellent parts. Fundamental tactical problems dogged this team from the start, compounded by the original sin of taking just one left-back in a squad of 26, with Luke Shaw not considered ready to start until the final. Too many players in central positions were getting to the ball, the left flank in particular was a dead zone as England reached the final third.

Time and time again, this team was given the opportunity of a potential winner, from the game-saving brilliance of Bellingham and Saka to the remarkable concentration of every other serious contender on the other side of the bracket. They never really looked like they had the guts to exploit them. They did not push as a unit. She had no control over the property – when they were in the lead, they averaged less than 40 percent of the ball. For eight years, Southgate has insisted he does not order his team to drop when a goal is scored. They still do that.

England was nothing like the collective organism of Spain, Germany or even more talent-poor countries like Switzerland and Austria. They had talent in abundance: all their front four were in the top 11 of CBS Sports’ Golazo 100, a list that had Declan Rice at 14th, Cole Palmer at 30th and two England right-backs in the top 50. None of the three players Spain had at that level were on the pitch when Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winner.

There’s so much horsepower, but a little fine-tuning is required. England were a light pace setter in midfield and their most talented forwards were all a little more similar in character than would be ideal. The proof of his tenure so far is that Southgate is not really the manager who can make the necessary tactical adjustments ahead of the match (when his substitutions come, they are usually more effective than he is credited for). To go from a team that makes the finals to a team that controls the finals, there is only one change England can realistically make.

This would come with risks. International management tends not to attract the best of the best. Graham Potter, Eddie Howe or even a relative outsider: no one can be guaranteed a success from a job that requires so little time on the training pitch and so much attention to every expression. Even the managers in the very best international jobs tend to be net neutral. However, recent weeks and the excellent football of Luis de la Fuente and Julian Nagelsmann have proven the value of managerial excellence at international tournaments. If England could discover that, nothing would stop them.

During his tenure, Southgate has proven to have a stronger understanding than most of what this team needs. maybe even what the country needs. As he himself has acknowledged, protecting what England has ‘must not come at the expense of introspection and progress’. Now when he thinks about what it will take for his players to take that final step, he seems to have come to the same conclusion as everyone else. An eight-year cycle of excellence had to end. England is almost at the promised land. If they want to reach the end of their journey, they will need someone other than the man who put them on the right path to get them across the finish line.