By Andrew Warshaw
July 11 – Gareth Southgate has rightly won plaudits for the way he and his team conducted themselves during the last four weeks at Euro 2020.
Criticised in some quarters for being too cautious and negative early on in the tournament, he so nearly got his team over the line as England went from the ecstacy of a fast start and a superb early goal from Luke Shaw to the agony of yet another penalty shootout heartbreak.
But for those spot kick misses, pride would have given way to immortality. Instead there was no fairy tale ending.
Nevertheless, as the first England manager to reach back-to-back semi finals and the first to reach a major senior men’s final since 1966, Southgate restored a much-needed sense of pride and togetherness that augurs well for Qatar World Cup in 18 months’ time when this exciting group of young players will be that much more experienced.
Yet for once, for all his tactical nous and formation switches, Southgate was out-thought on Sunday by his opposite number, Roberto Mancini.
Throughout the first 45 minutes England looked comfortable to the point of untouchable, in contrast to an Italian team who couldn’t find any meaningful cohesion or any way through.
But Mancini’s side improved dramatically after the break, nullifying the threat of England’s wingbacks, not giving Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling a sniff and pushing the likes of Federico Chiesa into dangerous pockets of space.
Now, as they took the game to England, we all saw once again why Italy had gone a staggering 33 games unbeaten stretching back to September 2018. Make that 34 now, with Mancini a big part of the reason.
Southgate’s battle-weary troops looked forlorn figures at the final whistle, knowing full well that the opportunity to get so close to winning the big competitions doesn’t come around very often.
Yet was the manager partly to blame? The fact is England could not find the answers when the squeeze was on.
Of course there will be talk of bad luck. But shootout or no shootout, there are arguments to suggest Southgate was too slow to make his substitutions, too willing to go for containment and cling on to a slender 1-0 lead when Italy upped the tempo.
As for the penalties themselves, Southgate insisted he had faith in those chosen to do the job. But there are legitimate questions to be asked about why he only resorted to bringing on the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho so that they could be among the spot kick takers, having had precious little game time.
The pressure was enormous for the likes of Kane and Harry McGuire let alone two of the youngest members of the squad.
In general terms, it is also reasonable to ask why Southgate hardly used England’s most creative talents throughout tournament, leaving the likes of Jack Grealish, Sancho and Phil Foden on the bench instead of unleashing them on the opposition with enough time to make an impact, not least against Italy.
Southgate will remain in the job and so he should and England, now a serious contender for major honours after years of under-achievement, will be determined at the World Cup to make up for the gut-wrenching disappointment of Sunday.
But there are so many factors into going the full distance at major tournaments. The best teams don’t always win (though Italy did this time) and you have to wonder whether England’s dream of a first Euro crown and a first major trophy for 55 years could have been fulfilled with a little more bold adventure from the manager.
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