Sixty-five years after their last international title, England have never been closer to bringing football home. A few hours before the final of the Euro which will oppose Italy to the Three Lions, Sunday evening, a man is about to win his ticket to the pantheon of British football (and his place at Mme Tussaud at the same time). This man is Gareth Southgate, the coach installed there in interim because there was no one else to do the job after the dismissal of Sam Allardyce, splashed in an affair of corruption.
“We come out of Euro 2016 after an elimination against Iceland, which remains one of the worst moments in the history of the selection, Hodgson is replaced by Sam Allardyce, who is fired after a match . So it really happens in a complicated context, recalls Darren Tulett, the English journalist and host of beIN Sport. And it must be said what is, when it is named, there is strictly no enthusiasm in the country. It’s barely if at the pub we say to ourselves “ah yeah, well, OK …” “. However, while the odds for the crash of a comet on the Falkland Islands among bookmakers are higher than that of seeing England have a good tournament, the former U21 coach manages to hoist the nation in the semi-final of the World Cup in Russia. The first stone towards the construction of a respectability yet not won in advance.
A plan patiently developed since 2016
Despite this performance beyond imaginable for any normal brain, Gareth Southgate has not necessarily enjoyed a hurricane of sympathy in the past three years in the country. “Since 2018, it has been half-fig, half-grapefruit, as my friend Omar Da Fonseca would say. Let’s say that we arrived at this Euro with moderate enthusiasm, even if we believed in it more than in 2018, ”admits Tulett. But again, as the most Frenchy of the British explains, the former Middlesbrough coach played an important role in this.
“Where he was strong was that he made us understand, and that’s a novelty in England, that we were absolutely not the best in the world. All the nonsense about the English who invented football, blah, we forget. We haven’t played a final since 1966! And he did it for the good of his players, to take some of the pressure off them. Because even if we suck in major competitions, the media and the public still have unreasonable hopes for their team and that can put too much pressure on the players. “
Favorites but never winners… Should we get carried away for England? via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/RFPNOh0ksS
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But this time, the reasons to believe it are beautiful and very real. Already because England will play in a Wembley stadium fully committed to its cause and its players have not had to stuff themselves with back and forth in the depths of Europe under Saharan dodgers, unlike the other teams . But also and above all because Gareth Southgate has made this team a cold and pitiless machine, which concedes nothing or almost to its opponents.
This game plan, so Didier Deschamps will say the bad tongues – solid behind and we mark the first -, he has matured for almost five years. At that time, he came to attend Euro 2016 as a technical observer on behalf of UEFA. And he left with a bunch of notes under his arms. In particular one, simple, basic: “The team which scored the first lost only twice in all the group stage, he remarks then. The psychological advantage thus acquired is immense, as well as the tactical advantage because you no longer have to take risks when you are leading. “
“Southgate is pragmatism personified”
Five years later, the plan has worked wonderfully, with England simply the best defense in the tournament. Without necessarily playing champagne football, Southgate has instilled a tactical rigor in his players, who all seem to agree to follow him to war without snubbing. Darren Tulett: “Southgate is pragmatism personified. He knows how to adapt wonderfully to each of his opponents and so far most of his choices have paid off. It’s not the sexiest, the most glamorous football, but it is the most effective football. We certainly don’t have all the best players on the planet, but together, it’s a hell of a team that believes in what it does and, above all, that believes in its coach, and that is the most important. “
“For three weeks, he has followed his instincts and is rewarded for it. It had been a long time since England had been ruled by someone with stainless principles, ready to die for their ideas, ready to take their ideas against everyone. This is his great strength, ”wrote Jamie Carragher in a column on The Times.
Thus, to counter Germany and its 3-5-2 with devouring space on the sides, in the round of 16, Southgate also released a three-way defense, which has been worked on for a long time in recent years to deal with any eventuality. Result, Gosens, who had in particular put misery in Portugal and Nelson Semedo on his left side, did not exist. And England scored first, and won. In the half, against a Danish team co-best attack of the competition and known to be the team that lit the opposing goals the most, the English recited their score wonderfully. Result, 6 small shots on the Danish side and only one goal conceded, the first conceded by the Three Lions since the start of the Euro, on a stopped phase (a free kick from Damsgaard) moreover.
BoJo, the knee and the tie with polka dots
Beyond his tactical and managerial science, it is the coach’s whole personality that appeals to a good part of the English people. Finally, especially young people, liberals and other anti-Brexit. “We have never been so politically divided since Brexit, the English have been living in a rather detestable atmosphere lately, and Gareth Southgate embodies a modern and progressive face”, greets Darren Tulett. So when some supporters at Wembley saw fit to boo the English players who put one knee to the ground, with the more or less explicit endorsement of Boris Johnsson, the boss came to clarify things. “Collectively, we were disappointed that there were whistles towards the players who had kneeled,” he said after the first match of the Euro. These people should put themselves in the shoes of his young players and imagine what they must have felt (…) We are totally united on this subject. We feel more determined than ever to get down to one knee in this tournament. “
“We win the Euro and then we install it at the head of the country. Vote Gareth !, ignites friend Darren, before resuming his seriousness. The new generation of English footballer, the Sterling, the Rashfords, are very committed to just causes close to their hearts. And Southgate embodies that spirit, he also carries this message of inclusion, openness, tolerance, and he fully supports his players in their battles. This is also what makes us love him and that we love this team. And this can be seen even in the look of our neighbors across the Channel. So, as in 2018 with the famous jacket Southgate, which the whole kingdom was tearing apart, the supporters of the Three Lions this time got their hands on the blue tie with white polka dots of their new idol, in the Percival store which dresses the coach. Which is anything but trivial in a country that has elevated sartorial elegance to the same rank as Crown Jewels.