England need a Gareth Southgate reminder as Thomas Tuchel laps up World Cup plaudits
The former England manager has resisted the temptation to work as a television pundit but his fingerprints are clearly on this England team
Considering the BBC is counting the pennies and has had its World Cup pundits in Salford, the chances of the channel offering Gareth Southgate a fortune to appear on their coverage were probably slim to none. But you can be sure ITV will have tried to tempt the former England manager, who was once one of their go-to analysts.
The offers will probably roll in again ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final against Argentina. But admirably, Southgate is keeping a low profile. Like the class act he is.
He might be forgiven, though, for wanting to go on television and respond to those who maintain Thomas Tuchel has brought an extra dimension to this England team. Southgate will have no argument on that score if England go on and win the World Cup, but so far, this is very much a team shaped by their old boss.
Southgate helped mould Harry Kane into a shining example of what international captaincy is all about, for example. Southgate blooded Jude Bellingham, handling his temperament with care and giving him leadership qualities early in his career.
Southgate curbed the excesses of Jordan Pickford and gave him the confidence that comes with being a trusted number one. Most importantly, though, Southgate did something that has made Tuchel’s highly-paid job easy.
He made this group of players LOVE playing for England. He made them enjoy being in long camps. Even the players who saw little game time revelled in the experience. There were times before Southgate took charge when some England players actually seemed a little disinterested. To some, it was almost a necessary evil.
But Southgate made it fun again, as the song almost goes. He also rekindled the patriotism that goes with playing for your country, without being overly nationalistic.
It was quiet pride. He reconnected the players with the fans. Now, they are singing Wonderwall together. And football-wise, Tuchel has not yet taken England to another level.
When Southgate’s side reached the semi-final in 2018, they did so with a 2-0 victory over Sweden and with a better performance than the one which saw them get past Norway in Miami on Saturday.
England were unfortunate to meet a good France team in the last eight in 2022 - and unfortunate to see their captain miss a penalty at the most crucial of moments - and they have reached the final of the last two European Championships. Southgate forged an English mentality that expects to go deep in tournaments.
Kane, Pickford, Rice, Bellingham. They all expect to go deep in tournaments. They all show those leadership qualities that were nurtured by Southgate.
The football under Tuchel is no better or no worse than under Southgate. This England team has got to the last four in the same way that Southgate’s team got to a couple of Euros finals and to the World Cup semi-final in Russia. They have got the job done.
It just now remains to be seen if they can go one step further. If they do, Tuchel - an outlier in a sense that he is the only manager in the semis not coaching his own country - will rightly take the acclaim. But Southgate’s role in this England success story should never go under-acclaimed.
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