I am certain that Gareth Southgate should continue
leading England through the 2024 European Championship.
I am aware that he hasn't given us the trophy we
were hoping for in Qatar, but we must consider the wider picture.
not just about how we performed in this competition,
but also about the advancements we achieved throughout his six years in
leadership.
When Southgate took over in 2016, we were a complete
mess and it seemed like we were going nowhere. When it seemed like things could
not get much worse, Sam Allardyce's withdrawal from the Euros that year made us
even more of a laughingstock than we had been under Roy Hodgson.
It is undoubtedly the reason why losing to France
stings so badly when you contrast where we were with where we are today,
following the incredible experiences we have had under Southgate at three big
championships.
Due to our earlier accomplishments under his
leadership as well as our performance in the World Cup, we believed we could win
it. We were strong candidates for many reasons, and Southgate was instrumental
in each one.
Going out in the quarterfinals might seem like a
step backwards after reaching the final of Euro 2020 and the semi-finals in
Russia four years ago, but with him in charge, we are unquestionably moving in
the right path.
Even if we haven't progressed as far this time, we
are a stronger team than we were in either of those two tournaments, and these
players still have a lot to offer.
"Players seem to respect and like Southgate,"
Whether or whether Southgate remains will be up to
him alone. Nobody in the Football Association won't order him to leave, which I
believe is just fair.
Since Sir Alf Ramsey [four between 1966 and 1972],
no other England manager has led a team to more than three major finals. Gareth
naturally needs some time to consider his future before thinking about another
campaign.
But I really hope he decides to play in the
following competition as well, and I really hope he feels like he still has
work to do with this promising young England squad.
Because of the atmosphere he has fostered in his
squads, they all seem to respect and like him, and they also seem to like
playing for him.
Although he got the greatest performance out of them
in Qatar, they will feel like they should have gone farther. I believe it helps
that they still have 18 months to make up for it at the next Euros in Germany.
In a rematch of last year's championship, we play
Italy in our first qualifying match in March to begin our path to those finals.
Gareth is still their leader, therefore we should stand with the core group of
players who have performed so admirably thus far.
He has previously faced criticism for some of his
tactical choices in pivotal matches, but in my opinion, there was nothing he
could or should have done differently in our loss to France.
The fact that their winning goal was a cross, which
I noted in my last column as being a significant aspect of their game, is the
one thing that disappoints me.
I believed France's strategy may work for our centre
half and fullbacks, who deal with those kinds of deliveries every week, but in
the end, a cunning old fox like Olivier Giroud found a yard of space in the box
to score the game-winning goal.
"When you offer all, you can stand tall."
On the bright side, we performed well and generated
many of opportunities while competing head-to-head with the tournament favourites
and hosts. It just wasn't intended to be.
Even though we failed, we gave it our all, and when
that occurs, you can be proud of yourself.
After my England team fell to Germany in Euro 96 and
then to Argentina in the World Cup in France two years later, I had a similar
emotion. Additionally, we put in a lot of effort and participated in stressful
games that were determined by the narrowest of margins.
Even though I was proud of our performance and found
reasons to be optimistic when I thought about our losses, I always felt like we
could have won both games and was upset nonetheless.
I am aware of how much this loss will affect
England's players right now, especially Harry Kane following his missed late
penalty.
Although I feel bad for Harry, a great striker's
life is like that. You must constantly present yourself at such a significant
event. Even if you can't take advantage of every opportunity, some are greater
and mean more than others, so that one will hurt awfully.
There is nothing he can do to stop it from haunting
him for the rest of his life.
I still think about the biggest penalty I ever
missed, which was for Newcastle against Sunderland in 2000.
This World Cup was up for grabs.
Instead of focusing on England winning this World
Cup, we are left wondering what-if. However, when I consider the teams still in
the competition, I do think we had a real opportunity to win.
There is not much going on up front for Croatia,
which has only won one game so far in open play. Even if they don't have a
fantastic squad, Argentina always has a chance since they have Lionel Messi.
I would have supported us to defeat Morocco, whom
England would have played in the semifinals. They are well-organized and deadly
on the counterattack.
We are leaving instead, but I am confident that the
younger team members will benefit from this experience when we return at a
later time.
Even though so many of them had special moments to
remember from this competition, Jude Bellingham really stood out to me as our
best player.