Despite considering stepping down from his role as England manager, Gareth Southgate has ultimately decided to remain in the position for Euro 2024
Although England’s performance at the World Cup was impressive, Gareth Southgate had considered leaving his post before the tournament.
He has now decided to stay on as England manager and aims to lead the team to success at Euro 2024, following their quarter-final loss to France in the World Cup.
Despite their success in the tournament, Southgate had faced criticism due to England’s poor form leading up to the World Cup.
England’s 2022 campaign started with victories over Switzerland and Ivory Coast in March. However, in the Nations League matches that followed, they did not manage to win any of their six games, and they were humiliated with a 4-0 loss to Hungary.
Despite a 3-3 draw against Germany in September, Southgate admitted that he had considered leaving his post.
Southgate decided to stay despite the ‘tough spell’
“The doubts I had came before the [World Cup], really,” Southgate told reporters after naming his squad for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine.
“I spoke about this a couple of months ago so I’m going over old ground, but I never wanted to be a divisive figure, in terms of me doing the job affecting the performance of the team.
“Then there would be a debate where people say ‘I’d rather you lose so you’re gone’. I did worry before the World Cup whether I should say I was going at the end, to allow the team the freedom to play.
“I decided not to do that, because when we left Wembley after the Germany game there was an uplift with the mood, and we’ve always known where we stand with the players.
“Also I wanted to show that you’ve got to come through tough spells as a manager, I’m not going to duck a challenge just because there’s criticism.
“But if there’s not the level of support and it starts to affect the team. that’s something I’m conscious of and that was my thought well ahead of Qatar.”
Southgate is now focused on a new beginning. He aims for England to improve on their performance in the delayed Euro 2020 tournament.
“I think it’s right to assess after a tournament,” he added. “We have to start from scratch.
“We have some great experiences over the last few years, which mean being European champions is a realistic aim.
“But we’re starting from the beginning again, and we’ve got to find the hunger to qualify.
“We’ve got two crucial games and we need everybody firing for two really difficult qualifiers.”
