To me it seems like an England manager can never really win. There’s so much partisanship, and the rivalry between clubs is so fierce, that people fixate on things of little importance, like a rival player playing instead of one of their own. Was Henderson always the best option in central midfield? Probably not. Was he so much worse than the alternatives that he significantly hampered England’s chances? Almost certainly not. Does it really matter whether he or someone else is the 21st pick in the Euros squad? Not at all.
As it stands, England have arguably been the best-playing side in two of the three major tournaments he’s presided over. Had the margins fallen their way, they would have had a World Cup final (possible title) and a Euros title. They also deserved to beat France, probably the strongest squad in the tournament, at the World Cup. Yes, Southgate has been overly cautious, borderline defeatist, at times considering the talent at his disposal, particularly in not going for it in extra time against Italy. But he seems to have learned from that and adapted.
So, while he has his faults, I don’t see any rational arguments against him being a very good England manager. To me it shows how fickle perception can be in football; if Lady Luck had been kind to him on a couple of occasions, he would be hailed as a national hero.
He's a bit of a funny one, Southgate. He sort of fluked his way into the England job at the perfect time. The current England side has an amazing group of players to choose from, and they've been extremely lucky with their groups in the tournaments as well.
A lot of this is about timing and coincidences. Bad luck with your group and the road to the final can be problematic. It's very easy to see which teams can go far. Whoever came second in Englands group, which England did, would have a much easier path compared to winning the group like Belgium did in 2018.
France WC road to final: Argentina, then they would face Uruguay or Portugal, then they would face Belgium or Brazil, Croatia or England in the final.
Belgium WC: Japan, Brazil, France.
Croatia: Denmark, Russia, England,
England? Columbia, Sweden or Switzerland, Russia or Croatia. Defeated.
Euros 2 years later: Easy group followed by a match against a dysfunctional Germany side, then Ukraine in the quarter finals followed by Denmark in the semi final.
Just by being in the group they were, which determines the last 16, quarter final and semifinal, England were always odds on to go far in both tournaments. In the 2018 world cup they lost their group match against Belgium, they lost against Croatia and then they lost the bronze final against Belgium. The only half decent opposition they won against was Columbia. A slightly different group and they would've been knocked out in the last 16 rather than the semi final.