Arise Sir Gareth

Why is this football tournament so confusing to me??

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We are in the finals of a major tournament but have played some of the worst football I have ever seen.? Is Southgate a genius or is he just incredibly lucky?

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In my opinion, I think Southgate is a brilliant communicator and has helped build a culture which we have not seen before within the England men’s senior team.? He is brilliant at setting expectations with the media and has no doubt brought in processes which have made us better.

Whilst our tournament end placings have improved, I am still unsure on his ability to manage a football team which feels like an odd statement eight years into his tenure.

If we subjectively look at some of the variables, I would say that the general standard of tournaments has decreased over the years. Due to commercial reasons set out by the governing bodies, there are more teams in all tournaments and the qualification process to get there is far more accessible. This has diluted the quality of the product on the pitch and has given teams enough time to bed themselves into tournaments to play badly but still progress.

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From a tactical standpoint, I am also dubious of Southgate’s ability to make in game changes correctly or to choose the correct formation or team.? Relying on Saka and Bellingham to create something special in the last minutes of a game after creating almost zero attempts on goal is not down to the manager. ??Yes, meticulous planning for penalties is great but true football fans can see when a team is not playing well or if coaching changes need to be made.? We all recognize that tournament football is about being solid and building momentum as you go but the truth is we have not played very well and would likely have been out of the tournament if we had met better teams earlier than the semi final and final.? History has shown that when we meet better teams, we have not passed the test.

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The litmus test for most fans in the premier league would be – if GS became available to manage your team, would you want him?? My predication would be that most would say probably not.

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Whilst I don’t believe Southgate’s football management is integral to our recent improved tournament performances, I do think we owe him a whole load of praise in another area.?

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In 2011, following the disastrous 2010 world cup exit to Germany, Southgate was introduced as the new Head of Elite Development for the FA.? His 18-month tenure helped sculpt a lot of the changes needed at that time to allow us to have such a great pool of technical players to now choose from.?

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Here is what has changed:

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• 2012’s introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan – a program designed by the Premier League, Football League and the FA designed to produce more and better home grown players.? Almost all of the 2024 squad has come through this program.? We now have over 90 licensed academies in the UK, ?UEFA licensed coaches have increased from 250 to 800+ and 77% of pro contracts in England are held by homegrown players.? Over ￡1.94bn has been invested into these academies and supporting organisations meaning that we now have overtaken Germany, Italy, Holland, Portugal and Spain with the most advanced, quality academy network in Europe.? The better the academy category (1-4), the more funding that academy gets which results in better coaching and better facilities.

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• The player pathway from grass roots to professional contract has never been clearer.? Coaching and education philosophies are shared between the ages of U9’s up to professional development U23’s and there is a defined alignment between the FA and the academies in England. ?The aim is to bridge the gap between youth and senior football and the EPPP has massively helped that.? There have been 566 homegrown premier league debuts since 2012.?

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• Between 2010 and 2015, there were 5,000 more teams under 16 and below playing the game in England.? There are more kids than ever playing grass roots football and that is helping increase the quality of the children placed into academies from U8 and upwards.?

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• There are currently now over 5,000 all weather pitches in England.? It was estimated that 150,000 games per year are lost to bad weather.? This has been reduced dramatically across the country leading to significantly increased playing opportunities.

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• The introduction of St George’s Park (SGP) has also been a huge development for English football over the last 12 years.? SGP is recognised as the best football facility in Europe and it allows all England teams to plan and prepare in the best possible way.? Aside from the incredible football facilities, all psychology, strategy, rest and recovery, education and building the England DNA is honed at SGP.? The England coaches all agree that SGP has been an amazing venue for integrating the England teams together to share best practice and improve the player pathway.?

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What is the result?

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We have won 5 major youth tournaments since 2017.? A large chunk of the senior England squad you see now have already won an international youth tournament.? We also have a pool of players who have been developed within the English academy system and are collectively technically superior at a younger age than any England era of the past.

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So now I think I understand why this tournament has been confusing and England fans have a fair shout of being frustrated with higher expectations.? Gareth Southgate will always be a contentious figure when English fans discuss him but really it should be the other things we judge him on.? Fundamentally, we have higher expectations now because of the work that he helped produce over 13 years ago.?

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If we win on Sunday, Gareth will no doubt be knighted for managing the team to a major trophy.? In truth, the knighthood should be awarded for the improvements we have gained over the last decade.

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Come on Gareth and come on England.?

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Lets do this!!

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