Gareth Southgate had a simple message for his players when he addressed them on Thursday. The elation from the previous evening, when England had beaten Denmark and a 55-year semi-final curse, remained in their systems and, without doubt, it is a glorious time to be a part of the national team set-up.
Everybody can feel the connection between the squad and the country, the strength of the shared values, and the excitement is palpable before Sunday night’s Euro 2020 final against Italy at Wembley. Southgate has been inundated with nice messages, it is very possible that he is the most popular person on these shores and there seems to be the feeling that, no matter what happens now, he will have succeeded.
The England manager does not believe it for one second. “I said to the players that all of these other bits, the legacy bits they have achieved, how people are respecting how they’ve been and how they have represented the country in the right way … Now, they have a choice. What colour medal will it be?
“Once I’d finished embarrassing myself on the pitch [with his celebrations after the Denmark game], I wasn’t pinching myself and saying: ‘We’re in the final.’ All I could think about was: ‘We’ve got to get this right now.’ I know it won’t be enough for me and the rest of the staff and the players if we don’t win it. You get lovely messages that say: ‘Whatever happens now …’ That won’t be how it will be on Monday.”
There is an uncompromising edge to Southgate. Everybody knows it is there, despite the kindness and basic humanity with which he is associated, because you do not win 57 caps as a player and take charge of 60 England games as the manager without one.
“We know young people need support and we’ve got to treat them in certain ways but if you’re trying to achieve extraordinary things, which our players are, then you’re into an environment that is a lot more hostile,” Southgate said. “You’ve got to play in front of 90,000 people, you’re in the Colosseum and it’s the thumbs up or thumbs down. That can’t always be a cuddly, warm environment. So you’ve got to develop resilience.”
So here it is. Judgment Day. The final act of the Southgate redemption drama, which opened when he missed the decisive penalty shootout kick in the Euro 96 semi-final defeat by Germany at Wembley. The narrative arc is almost implausibly perfect. “I could see the film script or whatever,” Southgate said, with a smile. So who would play him? A pause. “It would have to be someone pretty good-looking.”
It is the depth and richness that makes it, taking in the growth of Southgate, running through his reluctance to accept the England job in 2016 – he was a Football Association man after his spells as the head of elite development and the Under-21 manager; he feared the public did not want that – and his initial uncertainty about how hard to push his ideas on established internationals.
“It took time for me to be brave enough to implement some things,” Southgate said. “At the start, you are dipping your toe in and you think: ‘How far can we go?’ You have to keep winning matches. When you are more comfortable in yourself, which I think I have become in the role … if you deliver something that is crap, you accept: ‘OK, we didn’t get that one right, we will try a different route.’ Whereas you might worry about that a bit more if you weren’t comfortable in yourself.”
Where Southgate has excelled is in creating a culture in the England squad that prioritises inclusivity and tolerance; respect, especially for elders; selflessness and decency. And it has chimed with the fanbase, providing something in which to believe, to rally behind. Under Southgate, the players have come to feel more socially aware, more easy to relate to.
“What hit me after the Russia World Cup in 2018 was families coming up to me on the street, people from all backgrounds of our country, saying they felt they could go to a game now and not be abused at the stadium,” Southgate said. “They felt part of it. The longer I have been in the role, the more I’ve understood the importance to our fans of that connection with the team. We have a view of what being English should represent and the standards we want to hit.”
What should England represent? “There are historic things that we should be proud of,” Southgate replied. “We’ve had unbelievable inventions in this country. We’ve had standards of decency. At heart, I go back to the values that my parents gave me … treating people as you would want to be treated and just being respectful, really.
“But also people have tried to invade us and we’ve had the courage to hold that back. You can’t hide that some of the energy in the stadium against Germany [in the last-16 win] was because of that. I never mentioned that to the players but I know that’s part of what that story was.
“We always see what’s good in other countries but we look at the negatives of our own country and yet we have got so much to be proud of and so much talent coming through – in all industries, really.”
Southgate is taken back to Euro 96; it sometimes feels as if he will never truly escape it. “I suppose if I was to be able to take something from that … if I’m talking to young people now … hopefully, what they’ve seen is that those sorts of moments in your life don’t have to define you,” he said. “You have to work your way through them and develop resilience. Those experiences can help shape you if you respond to them in the right way and you apply context, which isn’t always easy.”
Southgate’s selflessness is pronounced and it is a quality that he has seen reflected in his squad. To him, it can never only be about the stars on the field; rather the contributions of those who do not play every minute, the leaders in the background – such as Jordan Henderson, Marcus Rashford, Conor Coady and Tyrone Mings.
“The others have seen them and said: ‘Well, if that’s how these guys as senior players are dealing with it …’” Southgate said. “That’s where your culture shines through – sessions like Thursday’s when they are the only lads training. It’s the boxer in the gym when no one is looking. That’s where the hard yards are done.
“Without those sessions being right and the level of defending and practice being right to test the forwards and vice versa then you don’t get the consistent performances we have had.”
England’s journey to a first major men’s final since 1966 has been arduous, taking in numerous resets, the notorious root and branch reviews. Southgate referenced the opening of St George’s Park in 2012 as a key part of the process and yet shortcuts have not been an option. The process of building belief is linked inextricably to results. What England would do for one more on Sunday.
