Gareth Southgate steps down as England manager: 'It's time for a change'
The clues were there all along with Gareth Southgate, but in the midst of a tournament run, not everything is always as it seems.
This time it was.
Southgate resigned as England head coach on Tuesday, less than 36 hours after his team fell 2-1 to Spain in the Euro 2024 final, his decision somehow feeling like a sudden shock and yet no surprise at all.
Through the past month, Southgate spoke earnestly and often about the reasons why he had taken this thankless job to begin with, how his primary push was that he wanted to leave English soccer in a better place than he'd found it when accepting the post in 2016.
He's done that, despite defeat in a second-straight Euros final meaning the country's agonized wait for a major trophy will now extend to at least 60 years.
"As a proud Englishman, it has been the (honor) of my life to play for England and to manage England," Southgate's statement read. "It has meant everything to me, and I have given it my all.
"But it's time for change, and for a new chapter. Sunday's final in Berlin against Spain was my final game as England manager."
England has such a complicated relationship with its men's national team, mostly because it's been hurt by all those false dawns down the generations. This was a real window of opportunity, Southgate overseeing a sustained period of reaching the later stages of World Cups and Euros, his "worst" showing being a narrow quarterfinal loss to France at Qatar in 2022.
Yet getting that close and not quite getting over the line — so desperately close on penalties in the final at Euro 2020 — has been used against him. Not brave enough, they said. Not imaginative enough. Not able to get the best out of an extraordinarily talented group.
Southgate left of his own accord, despite the Football Association wanting him to stay on until the 2026 World Cup, according to multiple reports. His contract was due to expire in December. He has some time to figure out what he wants now, but you'd have to assume a little rest comes before walking straight into a club job.
"I have had the privilege of leading a large group of players in 102 games," Southgate added. "Every one of them has been proud to wear the three lions on their shirts, and they have been a credit to their country in so many ways.
"The squad we took to Germany is full of exciting young talent and they can win the trophy we all dream of. I am so proud of them, and I hope we get behind the players and the team at St. George's Park and the FA who strive every day to improve English football, and understand the power football has to drive positive change."
Spain vs. England: MINI-MOVIE of UEFA Euro 2024 Final | FOX Soccer 🎥
For the most part, Southgate was loved by his players. And while some fans might not be able to see past the immediate disappointment of the Spain loss and the fact that for all the heroics in the knockout stage, England didn't actually play very well at these Euros, they might be careful what they wish for.
If the next manager matches his habit of persistently winning knockout round games, they will have done an outstanding job. Of the early names to be thrown around, the most likely seem to be Eddie Howe, Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino, though as ever with these things a couple of outliers like Jurgen Klopp will be teased.
Southgate did things a certain way, revolving always around the belief that nothing happens by accident. His approach is unapologetically forensic, and from the start he was big on culture and man-management. He didn't pander to public popularism, accurately reasoning that it was better to be a boring survivor in a tournament than an electrifying early departee.
Unthinkably for England, his teams won three out of its four penalty shootouts, with a detailed process as part of it. Jordan Pickford's now-famous water bottle was just the tip of the preparatory iceberg.
"Completely gutted," Pickford wrote on social media, in response to the news. "This will hurt for a while. Appreciate everyone who supported us during the tournament and I'd like to thank all my teammates and staff for their work throughout. I also want to say a special thank you to the boss for always believing in me during his time with us and I would like to wish him all the best in his next steps. Thank you Gareth."
The reaction was perhaps summed up best by a player that did not make the squad for Euro 2024, Harry Maguire, a Southgate staple for much of his tenure.
"You made us all believe again — memories that will last forever," Maguire wrote. "Thank you boss."
Southgate was unfailingly loyal to his players, never throwing them under the bus. Perhaps loyal to a fault, some would say, by sticking by Harry Kane throughout Kane's struggles in Germany.
While England's success feels like it is edging closer, a new era must begin now, with talents like Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden at the forefront of it.
One thing we have learned from this is that there is only one achievement that will ever satisfy England when it comes to its soccer team, and it might be an impossibly high one.
Southgate came to the very verge of it, he even had to walk past the trophy on the dais twice. He could've touched it if he'd wanted to, if the pain wasn't so bad.
Instead, he walks on. Head held high, certainly, but also another casualty of England's excruciating journey, as its endless wait goes on.
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