Gareth Southgate will only make a decision on his long-term future after he finishes overseeing England’s UEFA European Championships campaign in Germany this summer.
Southgate has been manager of the Three Lions for over seven years and is preparing for his fourth major tournament as the England boss. In total, he has so far overseen 91 games from the England manager’s dugout.
The upcoming Euro’s may well turn out to be Southgate’s last tournament in charge of England as his latest deal with the Football Association (FA) will expire this December.
The coming months after the Euro’s will be used by Southgate to assess his situation and decide whether he is keen to lead his nation to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Despite leading England to the final of the last Euro’s and the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup, Southgate remains unpopular amongst sections of the Three Lions fanbase. Those particular supporters are frustrated at him not getting England over the line in major tournaments despite the nation currently possessing a talented squad.
Pressure is growing on Southgate to finally deliver England’s first piece of silverware since the 1966 World Cup and there is high expectation going into the Euro’s with England among the strong favourites to win the tournament.
Southgate oversaw a successful qualifying campaign with England for Euro 2024 as the side went unbeaten and won six out of the eight group matches. Two of these victories came against England’s triumphant opponents from the last Euro’s final, Italy.
On Thursday, Southgate attended the draw for the forthcoming UEFA Nations League in Paris, where he witnessed England get drawn against the Republic of Ireland, Greece and Finland in Group B2. These matches will take place from September-November this year.
Whilst in Paris, Southgate responded to questions regarding his future as England boss. He replied: “You’ve got to see how the summer goes. I know what my own benchmark of success would be and after that I’m not really thinking about anything else. My only focus is to try and win the tournament for England.”
Southgate went on to explain why he will not assess his position before the Euro’s. The 53-year-old said: “We’ve got to deliver performance and you’ve got to make the best decisions for everybody. If we did anything before, it would be detrimental to the performance, whichever way your decision went.”
Southgate’s preparations for the Euro’s are set to soon ramp up as five weeks from now he will name his squad for the upcoming friendly matches in March against Brazil and Belgium. This will be the last international break before the England manager selects his 23-man squad for the Euro’s towards the end of May or start of June.
Manchester United’s 18-year-old midfielder, Kobbie Mainoo, has been tipped as a possible late entry into England’s Euro’s squad after impressing with recent displays for his club.
Southgate has taken notice of Mainoo’s rise and spoke on where he sees the player operating on the pitch.
He said: “He’s doing brilliantly. I’m not certain he’s necessarily going to be a defensive midfielder. He’s quite a progressive player, but he’s had a fabulous start to his career, and it will be good to monitor him as we go forward.”
England will have warm-up matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland at the start of June, which will give Southgate a final opportunity for experimentation with his side.
The Three Lions have been unbeaten in all matches since losing to France in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals, so Southgate will be keen for his side to carry on that momentum in the March and June friendlies.
Going into the Euro’s in good form will certainly ease the pressure on the England team and provide the players with added confidence for the tournament.
The opening game of England’s Euro 2024 campaign will be on 16th June against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen. Southgate will then take his side to Frankfurt to take on Denmark, before wrapping up the group stage against Slovenia in Cologne.
>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : IBTimes – https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/england-manager-gareth-southgate-wait-until-euro-2024-concludes-decide-future-1723356
