Gareth Southgate is confident he has demonstrated his passion for the England manager’s role and says he has no concerns about the post going into a process that is likely to lead to him being confirmed in the position.
“There are no fears with the job. It would be easy to look at the negatives but to work with top players and in big matches is what I want to do,” said Southgate, confirming that he expected the Football Association’s recruitment process to begin after Tuesday’s friendly against Spain.
Following a 3-0 victory over Scotland in Friday night’s World Cup qualifier, Southgate underlined his ambition to continue to encourage his England side to be confident in playing from the back. But they needed to show “bravery not stupidity”, while he also backed John Stones to deliver despite an error-strewn display.
“For years we have talked about not being able to play out from the back and if we are going to progress we have to be different and encourage players,” said Southgate of the Manchester City defender’s display. “But he also knows what I think of some of the things he did.”
The England Under-21s manager, on secondment, was reluctant to pitch publicly for a job that increasingly appears his, with the FA understood to be planning a contract that will take the new manager to Euro 2020. The next qualifier is at home to Lithuania on 26 March, which comes days after a friendly against the world champions, Germany. Spain are the opponents at Wembley this Tuesday as England look to end a tough year on a high.
“With respect, I’ve seen people in this position before talk about how much they want the job and it becomes an irrelevance if you don’t prepare the team well,” he said. “So it is not really my decision but I’ve loved doing it and I’ve seen some signs of progress with how we’ve played and from my point of view it has been a brilliant experience whatever.”
But Southgate was keen to correct any public perception that his nice guy image in any way blunted his will to win. “I enjoy winning. The person I am in a situation with press or outside meeting people is different to the animal that wants to win football matches,” he said.
“I think the players get that now and that is important because sometimes there is a misconception with how much it means to me to win. Winning against Scotland was a special night to be involved in.”
The former Middlesbrough manager said he saw signs of progress against Scotland, particularly in attacking areas where Adam Lallana and Raheem Sterling caused Gordon Strachan’s side problems, but also plenty to work on.
“We have players that can play from the back and I want to encourage that and at times that is going to encounter difficulties. We can do it better than we did against Scotland and show better recognition of the moments to do that and how to do that. But for the way all of the coaching staff prepared the team there were a lot of really good things.”
He rejected the notion that England’s players did not have the skills to play the style he was advocating. “I believe we have the technical ability. I think it is decision-making and positioning sometimes, recognition on when to really commit to it and when to play past the first press. We want bravery but not stupidity at times. We have to find that balance,” he said.
Southgate, who is now three games into a four-match audition in the wake of Sam Allardyce’s departure, said it was important to remember that Stones had time on his side. “I think what we have to remember is that he is 22 and in central defensive terms that is nothing. If we want a Hummels, a Boateng and a Pique,” said Southgate. “I can remember managing a team against Pique when he was 22 and he played for Manchester United. It wasn’t the all-round real deal. I think he has got the perfect manager to work with [Pep Guardiola]. For all of our defenders that is what we want to encourage.”
