Gareth Southgate is using the personal criticism directed at him during England’s run to the Euro 2024 semi-finals as “fuel” to take the team on to greater success.
England have not played well in Germany, yet have still reached the last four – the third time Southgate has led the Three Lions to this stage in the last four major tournaments – where they will face the Netherlands on Wednesday night.
The England boss has been widely criticised for his tactics and selections with his team struggling for fluency, a point again demonstrated in the penalty shoot-out win over Switzerland on Saturday.
Southgate even had beer cups thrown at him following the goalless draw with Slovenia, but he says it’s all motivation to lead his country to their first major trophy since 1966.
He said: “Look, I can’t deny that some of the personal nature, you know… this is a job where you get ridiculed, and your professional capability is questioned beyond belief, and I don’t think it’s normal to have beer thrown at you either.
“But, I’m fortunate that my life’s taken me through a lot of resilience-building and it’s made me more determined and I’m just using it as fuel. I know where I want to take the team to, and the team need to see me strong in those moments as well, otherwise that messaging that you’re giving them on what they need to be, it doesn’t ring true.”
The start of what we hope will be an incredible week.
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— England (@England) July 8, 2024
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England not satisfied with the semi-finals
No other England manager has had the consistent success Southgate has enjoyed but he believes the players are not content with a semi-final place and he sees a determination to go further.
“I think the difference is we arrive in a quarter-final, we’re not satisfied with that, so there is definitely a mindset shift in what we feel is acceptable as a team, where we want to end up,” he said.
“Now within that it’s knock-out football, the margins are so fine as we’ve seen again [against Switzerland], that can easily tip the other way and it’s a different story but those teams that have won consistently, they have that mindset, they’re not just satisfied with being in quarter-finals, they’re pushing on and that’s what we have to continue.
“This isn’t where we want it to end, you don’t necessarily want to speak about that too much. It is an unusual achievement for even the most successful nations but these guys, they’ve shown more than being able to just play. And, navigating tournaments, you need lots of other qualities.”
Southgate confident England can continue to challenge
Southgate is likely to stand down when his contract expires in December – or perhaps before – but he thinks a battle-hardened squad can continue to challenge after he’s gone.
He added: “It is that resilience, it is that ability to stay composed when you go behind in games, or when momentum’s against you, we won three penalty shoot-outs out of four, all those little bits build character, build belief.
“Given the age of the squad and their experiences now, they’ll have that belief for a long time, it should put England in a good place, but that’s the future – we’ve got a good week ahead of us.”
