Gareth Southgate

It’s got absolutely everything to do with it. Got to be an English manager managing the English team and our options are very limited.

It doesn't need to be an English manager really, why limit your options?

If I was the FA I'd go for Klopp
 
His failure to go into the tournament with a well-drilled system was the biggest sin. The fact that he didn’t, and only changed tact when it looked terrible, into something the players didn’t really know, exposed him as a coach.

It needed to be decided well before the tournament, with the players knowing exactly what their role would be and how it all fit together.

The fact that it wasn’t and he changed so late in the day, was what caused the goals tonight. He should lose his job for that.
 
I don’t think the players without defenders and midfielders that can actually control a game are capable of what some people think they are, but it does feel like a good time for a change.
 
However, he has taken this England team as far as he can.

He did that at the last final.

Everything since has been this level of shite.

What he has done well, he has done very well. But tactically, and when it matters most when it comes down to the big decisions, he has been woeful.

I've been mean to him tonight, but in all honesty I don't hate him and what he did at the start. But he fell into the same old England trap of being regressive. And he, like Kane, is holding us back on the pitch. We need a change with this squad, and he needs to move on.
 
He'll probably get two more years, and without context one might think that two finals is an achievement, but he made some glaring mistakes, and was repeatedly saved by individual moments.

Experimenting with Trent at this stage is criminal. He should've had a clear idea way before that. All the poor performers kept starting regardless, and other than Maino, those who managed to impress from bench never started a game.

England tactically never really took the game to anyone, very reserved and counting on individuals to make something out of nothing, which worked, but England came so close many times to crashing out.

Compare that to la Fuente, who managed to get the absolute best out of every Spanish player, and outplayed every opponent, that's what a good coach does. Southgate is probably a good man manager, but he's tactically very limited and is too afraid to take the game to anyone.
 
You can't set up your team to play with so little possession and not have pace among your front three. All of Foden, Kane and Bellingham are good footballers, but they simply aren't a good blend.
I can't help but wonder what impact Rashford would have had against the Spanish defense. He made his career out of games like this. I know he had a poor season but even the worst version of Rashford is a weapon in this sort of games.
 
Why should England have won Italy and Spain? I find that a bit strange to be fair, Spain and Italy have won tournaments on a regular basis England have not. Southgate or not England is not a better tournament team than either of those two.
Croatia, Italy, France, Spain.
Without context it isn’t good but at least you can say we’re not getting knocked out by minnows. You’d hope we’d have won 1 or 2 at least though, 0 from 4 is poor.

When you then look into who we’ve played on the tournament runs we’ve had, it looks really bad, because we’ve never knocked out a top team. We even got a Rodri less Spain for 45 mins tonight and still only changed tactics when they scored. We’re so reactive and passive and we rose our luck way too much this Euros.
 
His failure to go into the tournament with a well-drilled system was the biggest sin. The fact that he didn’t, and only changed tact when it looked terrible, into something the players didn’t really know, exposed him as a coach.

It needed to be decided well before the tournament, with the players knowing exactly what their role would be and how it all fit together.

The fact that it wasn’t and he changed so late in the day, was what caused the goals tonight. He should lose his job for that.

This is the main thing for me as to why he’s shite. He is simply an inadequate manager. I actually think it’s testament to the quality of players that we have that we’re able to get as far as we do. If Southgate was in charge with Hodgson’s squad we’d have had similar results.

Spain are an objectively better team. Player for player it’s relatively close, but as drilled teams and understanding each other it’s absolutely worlds apart - as evidenced this evening.
 
Why should England have won Italy and Spain? I find that a bit strange to be fair, Spain and Italy have won tournaments on a regular basis England have not. Southgate or not England is not a better tournament team than either of those two.

Are you being serious? I feel we could have beaten Spain tonight but they were the better side throughout the tournament and worthy winners, but England still could have won if they had deployed better tactics.

Italy however, you're having a laugh. You can't base a team on past achievements. 3 years ago they were an aged side that was slow and so poor they didn't even qualify for the World Cup. This year they showed how poor they were by going out so early. England went 1-0 up and dominated them with attacking football but as soon as they went 1-0 up Southgate got them to sit back and made defensive changes instead of going at them and winning the game. They go 2-1 up and we attack and get the equaliser and lose on penalties, the same as we did 8 years before against Portugal.

Tactics cost us in both tournaments. 100%
 
Tuchel please. For those saying Potter, trust me, his football was a fecking chore to watch. And he's a pussy to boot.

Thomas Tuchel will win us a World Cup.
 
Nice bloke. Represents values well. Clearly good a creating a positive culture around a squad.

But also had some massive slices of luck along the way. Croatia creating more total xG in the tournament than England, despite England playing more than double the amount of games says it all.

Just not up to it tactically.

Taken them as far as he can. Time for a change.
 
Yup. This tournament was actually extremely bad from them from a performance perspective, far worse than the previous.
  • Serbia - weak opponent, grinded out a win but was a nothing game
  • Denmark - nothing game with no chances either way, draw
  • Slovenia - nothing game with no chances either way, draw
  • Slovakia - last minute bicycle kick to save the game after a horrid performance, extra time win
  • Switzerland - horrid performance, won on pens after again last minute equalizer
  • Netherlands - only good performance of the tournament, deserved the win for the first half alone, nothing second half (last minute winner though)
  • Spain - came to defend, and got outplayed
They can't even dominate weak teams. It's just grinding through mediocre opposition and a favorable draw

This was the 26th match England played under Southgate in major international tournaments. His record, considering the players he had at his disposal, is frankly embarrassing.

England won vs: Tunisia (2018), Panama (2018), Colombia (2018), Sweden (2018), Croatia (2021), Czech Republic (2021), Germany (2021), Ukraine (2021), Denmark (2021), Iran (2022), Wales (2022), Senegal (2022), Serbia (2024), Slovakia (2024), Switzerland (2024), Netherlands (2024)

Drew vs: Scotland (2021), USA (2022), Denmark (2024), Slovenia (2024)

Lost vs: Belgium twice (2018), Croatia (2018), Italy (2021), France (2022), Spain (2024)

He arguably couldn't beat an elite level opposition even once. He lost all the games against them. Belgium was very good at the 2018 World Cup, England lost both games. Croatia was amazing, England lost. Italy was decent, England lost. France was good, England lost. Spain was very good, England lost.

Which are the most impressive wins out of these games?

-The Colombia game went to pens. It happens sometimes even vs weaker nations, and Colombia are no walkovers, but still, it should be noted.

-The win vs Croatia was in the group stage and at Wembley. They actually beat a decent team here, but they were favorites.

-Germany was a shadow of their usual selves and it was basically a home game at Wembley with a better team. I have 0 doubt that they would've lost to an even half-decent German side, like the 2024 Euro team.

-Denmark are always a decent team, but once again, better players, favorites, Wembley. The win wasn't convincing.

-Switzerland were actually a really well organised, well setup team, but the win wasn't convincing at all, and England's player quality was vastly, vastly superior. Switch managers and England convincingly win that game by 2-3 goals most times.

-The Netherlands weren't really special either, let's be honest. Koeman is a detriment to them as well, just like Southgate is for England. The win wasn't convincing.

If the English FA want England to win trophies, even if the football itself is unwatchable, they should hire Mourinho...I have no doubt in my mind that England are not winning the 2026 World Cup with Southgate. I hope this group of players won't be wasted for a further two years again.

The frustrating thing is that all England needs to do is to just hire a DECENT club level manager and they'll be real favorites against almost anyone. A decent club-level manager would instantly be a top 5 international manager. Just someone like Thomas Frank...or even someone on the decline, like Mourinho or Pochettino. They don't need Guardiola or Klopp. They need someone to provide basic team balance and some cojones...every team will want to avoid England like the plague in World Cups and Euros if that happens. I feel like Southgate hasn't been able to achieve the bare minimum against mostly washed-up managers and vastly inferior teams, in terms of performances. The performances have been waaaay worse than the results suggest.
 
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58 years of blaming managers. Carry on....


Bollocks. England lost plenty of tournaments in that time to far better sides or by being outplayed. We can accept that. But it's a fact Sven, Capello and Southgate have all cost us due to their fecking negative tactics. I accept the loss tonight as Spain were amazing all tournament but the point still stands, if Southgate was more proactive England could have won. Although 3 years ago the loss to Italy was a fecking joke.

Not quite sure what you were expecting to achieve with a dumbass comment like that tbh.
 
Spain clearly the better team but he shit the bed again. Stood like a statue on touchline.

Back to 1-1; Surely Gordon had to come on for Saka/Foden and fresh legs in midfield for Jude and push for the win. Instead... Retreat!!!!
 
His failure to go into the tournament with a well-drilled system was the biggest sin. The fact that he didn’t, and only changed tact when it looked terrible, into something the players didn’t really know, exposed him as a coach.

It needed to be decided well before the tournament, with the players knowing exactly what their role would be and how it all fit together.

The fact that it wasn’t and he changed so late in the day, was what caused the goals tonight. He should lose his job for that.

Agreed and another dimension was the unbalanced squad.

If Rashford and Grealish go with that type of football the team would offer more threat approaching the final third. Both players seem to thrive exclusively outside of a system and with a profile like Rashford running off Kane, Harry gets a yard or two due to the defenders having to track runners.

Bellingham, Kane, Foden and Saka, with Saka being the outlier (as he's dynamic) only works if a team is playing dominating the ball.
 
Was going to get Gallagher and Trippier on before the Spanish winner to shut up shop to get extra time, total coward. Will always have a defensive first mentality.
 
Shittiest manager of the competition killed possibly the best squad of the competition.

And that is the truth, whether you like it or not
 
Was going to get Gallagher and Trippier on before the Spanish winner to shut up shop to get extra time, total coward. Will always have a defensive first mentality.
Was he actually lining that up? Sheesh!

As much as he is a cnut TAA deserved more from this.
 
Shittiest manager of the competition killed possibly the best squad of the competition.

And that is the truth, whether you like it or not
I really don’t think the squad is as good as people pretend it is. Decent starting 11 mind.
 
I really don’t think the squad is as good as people pretend it is. Decent starting 11 mind.
No other team had as many quality players, but Southgate had to play favorites and start with Harry fecking Kane and the rest of his favorites, instead of having some brains
 
I would say for how bad i think he is as a coach. I do think he's a good guy and has done some (non football) parts of the job very well. Deserves credit for that.

Now, come on GS we know the FA won't fire you so do the right thing :D
 
He simply isn't good enough, and is actively holding England back. He has incredible luck being able to avoid good teams until deep in tournaments, which is pointless as England always lose to the first good team they come up against under him.
 
Euro 2020/1 was their moment and they blew it, end of story. Spain was the superior team this tournament.
 
For me this is all on him. Again we go behind, wake up score and j
then just sit back. 4 knock out games and we've created f@@k all. The international equivalent of moments fc