Gareth Southgate was long regarded as the hope of English football, but the wind has changed. Even the 53-year-old knows that without a title, he is out of a job.
With the elimination in mind, some parallels were already being drawn in the English press on Sunday evening with Euro 2016. Back then, the English experienced their "biggest humiliation since the 1950 World Cup" in Nice (1-0 defeat to the USA): England faced Iceland in the round of 16. As the heavy favorites, England even took an early 1:0 lead, but the Icelanders turned the game around and provided the big surprise.
There was huge mockery after the notoriously unsuccessful English team was knocked out of the European Championship. Not least because the British people had voted to leave the EU in the Brexit referendum just four days earlier. Immediately after the game, then national team coach Roy Hodgson resigned.
His successor faced the same scenario. By the 95th minute, England were 1-0 down against Slovakia and in the British trends on the X platform, the name "Southgate" ranked far ahead of the hashtag for the game. Opinions were made: the 53-year-old's time as national team coach was up.
Bellingham's rescue
A spectator at the public viewing in Brixton, who was interviewed by the BBC during the final phase of the game, also saw it that way. "No way", the woman replied when asked whether Gareth Southgate would survive the looming exit. The coach would not recover from that, the interviewee explained, before being distracted by the action on the screen and breaking into cheers shortly afterwards.
Jude Bellingham had just scored the equalizer that sent England into extra time and saved Southgate's job. When the interviewee was asked again about the coach after the general excitement, she replied in a somewhat hoarse voice: "He can stay, he can stay."
A scene that reflects the relationship between England fans and the national team coach. Not only since this tournament have there been repeated calls for the resignation of the coach, who many observers believe plays a football that is too unattractive or sets up the players incorrectly. The initial love affair has turned into an on-off relationship.
In the beginning, Southgate turned everyone on
Southgate, who himself played 57 international matches for England as a professional, stood for change for the better when he took up the job. He almost completely overhauled the squad and was immediately successful in the first acid test, the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Not only did England win a penalty shoot-out in the round of 16 against Colombia for the first time at a World Cup, but with fourth place, the team even equalled their second-best result after the 1966 World Cup title. The euphoria also spilled over into fashion: suit jackets, like the ones Southgate always wore, were suddenly selling like hot cakes in the UK.
At the following European Championships, the English even made it to the final. In the wake of this success, the band "Atomic Kitten" released their song "Whole Again" with new lyrics and sang: "Southgate you're the one, you still turn me on, football's coming home again". A line that found its way into stadiums thanks to England's enthusiastic fans and would probably still be celebrated today if England had won the final against Italy at their home stadium, Wembley.
However, the team was unable to build on these successes. They finished in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, followed a year later by relegation from League A in the Nations League. Finally, the main European Championship rehearsal also went badly wrong: In front of over 80,000 fans at a sold-out Wembley, England lost 0:1 to - and this brings us full circle - Iceland.
Patience is exhausted
The whistles and boos from the stands after the test match were just a foretaste of what the team, and Southgate in particular, had to endure after the 0-0 draw against Slovenia in the last European Championship group game. After the team's third poor performance, English fans threw beer in the direction of the coach.
The criticism was echoed by many journalists and former internationals: More simply had to come from by far the most valuable squad of all teams at the European Championships (€1.520 billion according to "transfermarkt.ch"). And because, in the view of the observers, it cannot be down to the players being successful at their clubs, the blame remains with the coach.
He understands the narrative against him, said Southgate. Even if he finds the reactions somewhat exaggerated in view of the team's progress as group winners. However, it is important that the displeasure is not directed at the players. On the one hand, it is the job of a good coach to protect the team. On the other hand, he knows: Patience in England has run out. He only has a future as national team coach if he wins the tournament. The next hurdle is Switzerland.
