Gareth Southgate insists he has made England more fun and changed their perception across Europe… but admits Three Lions fans may not agree with him

Just over a decade after being appointed England Under-21 manager, Gareth Southgate is pleased to shout out Mission Accomplished in terms of making the national team more attractive – with the caveat that winning a trophy is yet to be fulfilled .

Southgate arrived at the FA in August 2013 to develop young players, at a time when English football was admired for team spirit and physicality rather than technical ability or firepower.

Ten years later, Southgate is England’s most successful manager since Sir Alf Ramsey. His side, which plays Malta on Friday and North Macedonia next week, is packed with attacking stars, from Harry Kane to Jack Grealish and the youthful Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham. Neither Mason Mount nor Raheem Sterling can be part of the 25-man squad. The next generation, led by Anthony Gordon and Cole Palmer, is being watched.

Attacking options abound, but while Southgate continues to be criticized for not playing positively enough, he insists the perception of English football abroad has changed for the better.

“That was one of the reasons I joined the FA ten years ago to work in the Under-21s. “We felt like that’s what we wanted to do,” he says.

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‘We have achieved that in the rest of Europe. Sometimes we haven’t achieved that much with our own audience! But it’s interesting how we’re viewed elsewhere.

‘This is undoubtedly how we want to play. We were top scorers per match at the World Cup and we have been top scorers in qualifying for the two previous tournaments.

‘We want fans to come to Wembley to see goals and exciting performances and we have had some good nights. We will continue to try.’

Once reluctant to play a number 10 for fear it would expose limitations elsewhere, Southgate has played there in recent times against James Maddison, who has withdrawn from this squad due to injury. Bellingham was also a revelation in that role at Real Madrid.

“We certainly have some exciting players in the wide and number 10 areas behind the striker, and different types,” the manager said.

‘Maddison is different from Jude, with different qualities. It’s good that we don’t replace like-for-like during matches because it means we can cause different problems for teams.

‘At a club you can recruit players who fit a model of how you want to play. At an international level you have to get the best out of the people you have at your disposal.

‘When new players emerge you look at the best way to get a Bellingham or a Kane into the team, and the balance of the team behind that, because you can’t just have seven or eight strikers.

‘It is clear that our preference now is for a back four because we have these attacking players. We can play with a 10 or two 8s and that opens up to different players within that group.

“If we play with a 10, Jude and James are currently at the top of the pile. Both could be the key to unlocking a different type of opponent.”

England have qualified for next summer’s European Championship and you can predict most of the squad. While Kane took his tally to 17 in 11 Bundesliga appearances after scoring twice in Bayern Munich’s 4-2 win over Heidenheim on Saturday, one problem is his substitute at striker.

Ollie Watkins is the man in possession, but Southgate is an admirer of Callum Wilson and has named Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Ivan Toney, back from a gambling ban in January, could get a late run.