Gareth Southgate was 46 when he was appointed England manager in September 2016.
Shortly afterwards he was interviewed by the FA’s own television channel. He was sitting in one of the dressing rooms at Wembley, fresh-faced, with a dark, neatly trimmed beard and a smart, striped shirt with a white collar.
He spoke of how proud he was to have gotten the job and how proud his family was too. He exuded enthusiasm and excitement about the potential he felt, particularly in the young players coming through the system. “It could be very exciting in the next few years,” he said.
On Friday, as he sat down to chat about England’s European Championship quarter-final clash with Switzerland and tried to fend off invitations to discuss reaching a century of games as his country’s manager, he occasionally stroked his beard. It is now streaked with grey.
“In another time, in another moment, I would be more reflective,” Southgate said, “and I’m just so aware that that milestone is not relevant to this moment. I’ve seen things like this when there’s a big presentation before games and the focus shifts.
Gareth Southgate prepares to take charge of England for the 100th time in his career
But as he approaches the milestone, a shadow is cast over Southgate’s tenure
England have struggled at Euro 2024 but Southgate has a habit of having the last laugh
“The game is not about me. It’s about the team, it’s about me preparing the England team for this quarter-final and doing everything I can to make the team successful and give the country a fantastic night. It’s something I look back on with great pride, but I don’t see that happening in the next 10 days.”
His demeanour is still appealingly serious and unwaveringly polite, but Southgate is now a little more reserved, which is inevitable when you come under so much criticism after achieving success with England.
But he was right. It was exciting. England have enjoyed more success under Southgate than under any manager except Sir Alf Ramsey. Their run to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, after miserable performances in their last four major tournaments, has captured the public’s imagination.
Southgate, 53, went on to lead England to the Euro 2020 final at Wembley. His 100th game would mark the fourth time in a row that England have reached the quarter-finals of a major tournament during his reign, a feat no other European nation can boast. A win over the highly-regarded Swiss, who impressively dethroned Italy in their last match, would see England play either Turkey or the Netherlands later this month for a place in the final.
But a shadow has been cast over Southgate’s milestone – he is only the third England manager, after Ramsey and Sir Walter Winterbottom, to reach his 100th point – at this tournament because England have worked so hard to get anywhere near their best.
Although this group of players does not have as much talent as Sven Goran Eriksson with the Golden Generation, the English fans followed their team into this tournament expecting them to win it.
The struggle to find any semblance of fluency in their four games so far has tested those expectations. If Jude Bellingham hadn’t saved England with his spectacular bicycle kick against Slovakia on Sunday, Southgate would have been booed and stranded on 99.
Few expected Southgate to still be in the dugout after his appointment in 2016
The former Three Lions player has led the national team in four tournaments
Southgate came agonisingly close to victory as England reached the final of Euro 2020 but lost
Most believe he will resign after the tournament, so the match against the Swiss could be his last. Whatever happens in Dusseldorf – Bellingham escaped an immediate suspension for a rude gesture after his goal – the truth is that Southgate has changed England’s fortunes in major tournaments.
Before Southgate, England had settled into a miserable pattern of underperforming at World Cups and European Championships. Under Southgate, they have become contenders again. ‘When I took the job,’ Southgate said on Friday in the only moment of reflection he allowed, ‘the first thing we wanted to do was rebuild confidence. We wanted the nation to fall in love with the team again.
‘We knew that many steps had to be taken to gain credibility in Europe, and again in the world. Ultimately it is up to others to decide whether we have done that.
‘But here we are in a fourth quarter-final, which we are very proud of, as no one else in Europe has done it. But we didn’t come here to be in a quarter-final. There is clearly a missing piece that we would like to provide.’
People like to criticise his game management, but for a manager who only ever gives faint praise for his tactics, he has developed a habit of finding a way to win even when his players struggle to get the job done.
When England played poorly under Roy Hodgson at the 2014 World Cup, they were knocked out after eight days. When they played poorly under Fabio Capello at the 2010 World Cup, they were crushed by Germany in the round of 16.
Since his appointment, Southgate has made the England national team a contender again
Now, at Euro 2024, Southgate hopes to go a step further than they did at Euro 2020
Southgate’s record is quite different. The 2018 World Cup semi-finals, the Euro 2020 final, the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals and now the last eight here in Germany. He knows how to chart a course through a tournament.
“People need to remember that in eight years and 99 games Gareth made a lot of decisions that worked out well,” former West Ham manager David Moyes said in his newspaper column on Friday.
‘The idea that he is tactically flawed is complete nonsense. When I look at England, I see a very well-organised team — and when I look at Euro 2024, I see a tournament where the well-organised teams perform best.’
So even if some see Switzerland as favourites, England, under Southgate, have the pedigree and the experience. Southgate knows what it takes and it may be that his rumoured switch to a 3-4-2-1 formation comes at just the right time to breathe new life into England’s campaign.
Other groups would have fallen apart after a run of indifferent form and in the heat of the tournament. That’s what happened under Capello in South Africa. Southgate is too good a manager to let that happen, and that’s why England are still here.
The Three Lions manager said his players had shown ‘huge courage’ to stay at the European Championship
“You always want to manage a team that has never been beaten,” Southgate said of his players. “They’ve shown a tremendous amount of courage. People will question that, but my point is that it’s very difficult to keep playing and keep trying to create good chances when you’re behind in a knockout game.
‘Ultimately we could have run out of time the other night and then the outcome would of course have been different, but we are fighting here and we have shown character and resilience in all the games, and also in between the games.
“So we’re looking forward to the test. It’s a good team we’re playing against and we have to be at our best. But it’s a fantastic opportunity to be in the quarter-finals of a European Championship.”
Southgate is on the verge of reaching his hundred. Whether he wins or loses to the Swiss, he can walk back to the pavilion with his bat raised high in recognition of a masterful innings.