England manager Gareth Southgate has stated that the team’s fate in the 2020 UEFA European Championships has made him a better manager, especially after recent results.
England played good football in the 2020 edition, buoyed by some strokes of luck and the goal of winning their first title at Wembley Stadium since the 1966 FIFA World Cup, which they coincidentally hosted.
Italy, their opponents for the final, would take the game to penalties and win the title, sparking loads of reactions to Southgate’s methods. Calls for the 53-year-old to be sacked are still being made by some sections of the England support while many have chosen to scrutinise his every move with hopes of preventing a repeat of the 2020 incident.
The question of what he intends to do better has been put to Southgate continuously since then. With another tournament on the way, the questions have followed once more.
The former England midfielder was responding to journalists in his pre-match press conference ahead of their Euro 2024 qualifier game against Italy, who they lost the 2020 final to. He stated that he has learnt from the mistakes of that game and intends to show his learnings, first against Italy, then against the other opponents.
“You are managing big matches all the time in one of the most high-profile jobs in football so of course, like every manager, you are improving every day,” said Southgate, who will take charge of his 89th match since succeeding Sam Allardyce in 2016. “I’m sure every coach would be saying they are better than six months ago; they know more, are more experienced and have encountered more of the situations.”
“I hadn’t managed a European final before so the next one I am in I will have another reference and you have more experience. It’s as simple as that. You can only gain experience by being in those moments. People have asked what I would do differently that night but if I had done something differently I don’t know how that would have played out.”
“You make decisions with the information you have at a given time and it’s played out in front of everybody. Everybody can then, in hindsight, say what should have happened but that tape is never played and nobody really knows the answer.”
Gareth Southgate also spoke on the progress of the squad since that final.
