Defiant Southgate using ‘personal’ criticism as fuel for England success

Gareth Southgate has hit out at the personal nature of the criticism and ridicule aimed at him but said it is fuelling his attempts to guide England to glory at Euro 2024.

England secured their third semi-final in four tournament appearances under Southgate after beating Switzerland on penalties and are determined to keep the journey going when they face the Netherlands in Dortmund on Wednesday. This is expected to be the manager’s final tournament in charge of England and he has seemed worn down at various points over the past month.

Southgate was upset when plastic beer cups were chucked at him after the 0-0 draw with Slovenia during the group stage, and there have been acerbic comments from a series of high-profile pundits. Drowning out the noise has not been easy. Southgate, after saying it does not matter whether he gets more respect, opened up when asked whether he had become hardened to the sniping from the sidelines.

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“I can’t deny that some of the personal nature, you know … ,” he said. “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. 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.”

England had gone 20 years without reaching a semi-final before Southgate took over in 2016. Since reaching the last four of the 2018 World Cup, they have lost to Italy on penalties in the Euro 2020 final and fallen to France in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.

Now the Netherlands stand between them and a meeting with France or Spain in Sunday’s final in Berlin. It would be Southgate’s 102nd game in charge, and he is desperate to see Harry Kane, England’s captain, lift the trophy.

“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,” Southgate said. “Within that it’s knockout football. The margins are so fine. 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.”

England’s performances have underwhelmed but they have been strong during difficult moments and responded well to going 1-0 down to Switzerland in Düsseldorf. Bukayo Saka equalised moments after a triple substitution from Southgate and England were nerveless during the shootout, brilliantly dispatching all five of their penalties. Afterwards, though, Southgate faced more questions about a lack of entertainment from his side. He believes the resilience bodes well for the future.

“These guys, they’ve shown more than being able to just play,” Southgate said. “Navigating tournaments, you need lots of other qualities. It is that resilience, it is that ability to stay composed when you go behind in games, or when momentum’s against you, [we’ve] won three penalty shootouts out of four. All those little bits build character, build belief.

“There’s this tournament, but 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.”

England will have Marc Guéhi back from suspension, giving Southgate a decision over whether to restore the centre-back in place of Ezri Konsa. Luke Shaw, the squad’s only left-back, will also be in contention for a starting spot after coming off the bench against Switzerland and playing for the first time since sustaining a hamstring injury five months ago.