Southgate the bringer of peace
England manager Gareth Southgate has said that he wants to bring ‘temporary happiness’ to an ‘angry country’ by winning the Euros on Sunday.
Southgate has led his England team to a second consecutive Euros final and has also reached a World Cup semi-final in recent years, a huge improvement on previous England squads.
In the lead up to Sunday’s era-defining final between England and Spain, where ultimately Southgate will see him self become a hero or a villain, the England manager gave an interview to Sky Sports.
He spoke about the shortcomings he has had to face in his international career, missing his penalty in Euro 96′ while also losing the Euro 2020 final and World Cup 2018 semi-final.
The 53-year-old said: “As a player and an athlete, you view those failures in a different sort of way.
“As a coach, manager, leader, you recognise what you’re doing well.”
Southgate spoke about how close England had come to exiting the tournament against Slovakia claiming that even if his team had gone home in the round of 16 he believes he has managed this period “better than in Russia.”
He said: “That wouldn’t be how it was viewed and it would sound like nonsense to the man in the street.
“I completely understand that, but I know the job now and I’m really clear on being my own biggest critic, reviewing everything clearly.”
The England manager talked about his nation he his representing and the frustration many fans have felt with such sentiments that traverse decades of failure.
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He said that he is hoping to “bring some temporary happiness” to what has been an “angry country” by finally bringing it home on Sunday.
Southgate talked about the incident where fans had thrown cups at him after their drab 0-0 draw with Slovenia.
He spoke about the danger of things unravelling, however said he was “determined to confront it.”
Southgate said: “When the beer came over I was going to go and walk towards it because we fought too hard to change the environment for the players.
“We’ve got some who’ve got no fear anyway. But if we’d suddenly had this environment where it’s ‘I’m not so sure I did enjoy that’ that would have undone the progress we’ve made.”
He added: “So, I felt it important to fight for that in that moment. I was the only who was going to be able to do that really.”
The Three Lions manager has stated his intentions and desire to bring the Henri Delaunay trophy home to England, but also the reality of the microcosm of football.
“I want to win so much on Sunday it hurts, don’t get me wrong,” he said, “but I can handle whatever comes and I know it’s not going to change what the dog thinks when I walk back through the door.”
