Gareth Southgate always fell short when it really mattered as England manager. He was not good enough to seize the greatness in our grasp, writes CRAIG HOPE

Gareth Southgate is a brilliant man. He is not a brilliant manager. Not through the lens of the technical and tactical skills that lead teams to major trophies. In that respect he has failed.

Take England’s torturous progress in Germany. As one source close to the selection said: ‘There were 100 different ways for that group to get to the final with that draw. They did it in about the hardest way possible.’

It’s unfair to say they relied solely on luck. Luck – whether it’s once-in-a-lifetime goals or dubious penalty awards – is the final act at the end of a chain of events influenced by the players you pick and the positions you put them in.

To get there, to stay in the game, requires resilience and belief. Southgate has carved those qualities into the psyche of his players during his eight years as manager. For that, he deserves enormous credit.

But a team that relies on such strength — and fortune — is not really a team at all. Not in the traditional sense of strategy, cohesion and identity. Not like Spain.

England lost 2-1 to Spain in the final of the European Championship in Germany on Sunday

What was England’s identity at the Euros? They were survivors, not go-getters. They looked like a bunch of highly regarded strangers and at the end one of them would write a cheque to buy their way into the next round. A wealth of talent saw them through, even if their game was lacking.

It didn’t have to be this way. It wasn’t meant to be this way. Southgate’s selection of the squad was bold. His team selection was safe. He picked a side on reputation for the first game — but then did nothing, as the big names turned out to be even bigger disappointments. Alf Ramsey didn’t pick Jimmy Greaves and won. Southgate picked Harry Kane and lost.

England’s stars can claim to have been let down by their manager. The sight of Jude Bellingham and Jordan Pickford shouting at Southgate and his coaches in the second half of Sunday’s final was certainly alarming. Here were two more voices added to the 20 million at home — ‘Gareth, do something!’

Southgate’s substitutes at the tournament were consistent. Ivan Toney helped save the last-16 tie against Slovakia. Cole Palmer brought adventure against Switzerland in the next round, and was one of three substitutes to score on penalties. In the semi-final, against the Netherlands, Palmer passed to Ollie Watkins to score the winner. Both were second-half introductions. Palmer then scored from the bench in the final.

England’s stars can claim they have been let down by their manager. The sight of Bellingham shouting at Southgate and his coaches in the second half of the final was alarming.

Southgate’s replacements at the tournament have consistently worked for the Three Lions

To get there, to stay in the game, requires resilience and belief. Southgate has carved those qualities into the psyche of his players during eight years in charge

But if the life jackets save you every time, wouldn’t it be an idea to have them in the pool? A good replacement could also be to right the wrong of the original selection. That’s how it felt in Germany. To revisit the observation from the source close to the team, it could have been a lot easier, not to mention it looked better.

And if that had been the case, if Palmer, Watkins or Toney, even Anthony Gordon, had been trusted from the start, you suspect England would have reached the final with bravado rather than vacillation. Spain walked out of the Olympia having played very well in six games.

England had done the same thing for about 60 minutes. And that comes back to the manager, because the players he had are better than that. Collectively, England would have a higher market value than Spain. So how did the team consistently underperform?

They have been runners-up at the last two European Championships, yes. But they went into both tournaments as favourites. The only two knockout games they have played under Southgate that they were not picked for by the bookmakers — France in the quarter-finals of Qatar 2022 and Spain on Sunday — they have lost.

Then there were the missed opportunities. Against Italy in the last final — and Croatia in the World Cup semi-final three years earlier, both games in which they led — Southgate should have thrown caution to the wind. Instead, he set up windbreakers and let the opposition blow them away.

Even in Berlin, at 1-1 and with the Spanish bulls seemingly intimidated by the English lions, Southgate’s team didn’t sink their teeth into it. Instead, they bit their nails. The manager talks — and he talks so well — about fearlessness and not being afraid to lose, and yet in the biggest games England seemed afraid to win when victory was in their jaws.

At times in Germany, Southgate seemed stuck in his own indecisiveness. Then, out of the darkness, a ray of light. And that was England, flashes of genius. But you can’t keep flickering forever. Southgate leaves as England’s most successful manager since Ramsey, but he wasn’t good enough to seize greatness. He can hold his head high, but his hands remain empty.

During the tournament in Germany, Southgate at times seemed stuck in his own indecisiveness