the times | Saturday June 11 2022 2GS 9
Nations League Sport
the consistency. He scores goals, he
makes goals and defends. He’s a fabu-
lous kid. If your daughter brings Buka-
yo home you’d be more than happy.”
It was Saka’s penalty miss in the
shoot-out that brought a miserable con-
clusion to the Euros final. But Southgate
was also criticised, and he admitted,
after reviewing the tape, that “lessons”
have been learnt. Such as? “The need to
keep the ball better in the back third of
the pitch.” And not just in defence.
He acknowledged that England lack
a Modric, Verratti or Kimmich, mid-
field players adept at keeping the ball.
“That’s not an issue that I can affect in
my role with the seniors,” he replied.
“It’s a good discussion for youth devel-
opment and coaching courses.
“Our players have different strengths
to the players you’re talking about and
we’ve got to find the best way with those
players. It was only a couple of years ago
that it was very hard to find any English
players playing in central midfield. And
there is not a huge amount in the higher
level of the league playing in those sorts
of pivot positions in midfield. It’s not
something that’s going to change in the
next 18 months or so.”
He still loves the job, despite the criti-
cism. “It’s passion. It’s life. That’s football
management at any level,” he said. “You
live it. You want to build teams and bring
fans with you to build memories that
can be very special. There’s only a hand-
ful of people who focus on England all
year and watch all the players play every
match for their club and have the view
on how that comes together, who gohome at night thinking about exactly
what is needed to win. We live and
breathe every second of that. I’m not
going to be here for ever, am I? There
will be another England manager.”
He has the support of the hardcore
fans, the Block 109ers, and those who
follow the team around the world. He
also receives plenty of backing from the
person on the street. “When I travel
around the country, people are bril-
liant,” Southgate said. “I’ve received
plenty of pats on the back, so you have
got to have balance in that. I accept that
is what all my predecessors have had, so
why would it be any different for me?”
He has never contacted any of the
critical pundits, having been one him-
self for ITV. “They are normally in a
role where they are paid to give an opin-
ion, and that is what they have to do,”
Southgate said. “It’s not nice when you
are on the receiving end. You file it, you
use it to motivate yourself and you un-
derstand it’s part of being a manager.”
He understands the expectation. “I
know the consequences. I’m totally
aware of it — and I am totally calm
about it.”ENGLAND
(Possible; 4-3-3): J Pickford — R James, F Tomori,
H Maguire, K Trippier — J Ward-Prowse, D Rice,
J Bellingham — R Sterling, T Abraham, J Grealish.
ITALY
(Possible; 4-3-3): G Donnarumma — G Di Lorenzo,
A Bastoni, F Acerbi, L Spinazzola — L Pellegrini,
M Locatelli, N Barella — M Politano, G Scamacca,
G Raspadori.
Referee S Marciniak (Pol).The crowd for tonight’s game at
Molineux will be restricted to 2,000
children. The match was declared a
“behind-closed-doors” fixture by
Uefa as punishment for the disorder
that marred the final of Euro 2020,
played at Wembley last year
(Charlotte Duncker writes).
Uefa rules allow free tickets to be
distributed to local children for
matches of this kind, so the FA has
made plans for 2,000 under-14s to
be there. The children will attend
with designated guardians, and
all come from grassroots football
clubs within a 100-mile radius of
the stadium.
The figure is significantly lower
than the 36,000 who attended
England’s match with Hungary in
Budapest, which was also a behind-
closed-doors game. That is because
all children attending have to arrive
via group transport and the limit for
coach parking in and around
Molineux is capped at about 70.
An invite to register for tickets
was sent to all clubs who fit the
criteria. Each club was allowed to
apply for up to 50 tickets, with a
maximum of 12 adults per group.
Any groups with a disproportionate
number of adults to children had
their application cancelled.2,000 children to make
up crowd at MolineuxBecause he’s a great footballer, I tried
him in midfield — there was some
validity in looking at that. The way
Liverpool play gets the best out of him
and that’s to do with the pressing, it’s to
do with the way they defend. They get
him into those forward areas — that is
what we tried to do with him from the
wing-back position [against Hungary].
“But I have three amazing right
backs. Kyle Walker is one of the best in
the world, so is Reece James and so is
Trent, they’re different profiles.
“So I’m always going to have those
situations where people disagree with
the selection. That noise over the last
two, three years does seem to have been
extremely loud, and I’ve had to ride that
and get on with it. That’s what I’ve got
to deal with. I’m sure the manager of
Brazil has the same. I know the manag-
er of France does, and he has won more
than I have. So that’s the landscape.
“I hear about conservatism, but we
were the highest scorers in Europe last
year. So I don’t quite know what more
you can do. Look, I’ve got to find a bal-
ance because I don’t want to be defen-
sive, but some people have managed
teams and others haven’t. Until you’ve
managed teams, you have a different
view of the game because what’s needed
to win matches are the sorts of things
that Mount did on Kimmich, that
allows other things to happen.
“For the man who comes
and stands on the terrace
and, in old terms, pays his
money, I understand he
wants to see a Grealish
with a Sterling with a
Saka... but you’ve got to
have balance. That
balance of the team to get
to a semi-final and final has
been pretty good.
“I can’t be swayed because popu-
lar opinion would pick 15 players for
each game and have 28 players in each
squad. I sense where the room is with it.
“I won’t outstay my welcome [as
England manager] but I think I can do
a good job for the team and I think
we’ve done a good job for the team.”
Southgate also spoke about not
wanting to outstay his welcome after
the defeat by Italy. Last night he added:
“That’s how I’ve always felt about it. The
major part of that is how the players are.
Do I still feel the players give everything
and respond to what we do? Yes, I do.”
And that is true. The commitment to
reporting for duty, even at the end of a
tiring season, is clearly there. “The
players have that desire and hunger,” he
said. “They feel the urgency, the need;
they are desperate to be champions.”
It is visible in players such as Saka, so
diligent and dynamic. “He’s a fantastic
talent,” Southgate said. “He’s one that’s
possibly less appreciated because his
profile isn’t quite the same as some of
our other attacking players. He just
quietly goes about his job, but you seeGareth Southgate walked down a long
corridor at St George’s Park shortly
after 3.10 yesterday afternoon, passing
the large photographs of the 15 men’s
senior England managers, starting
with Sir Walter Winterbottom, 1946-
- And there was his own picture,
labelled 2016-.
He turned right into The Hub, past
the huge health-and-safety sign for FA
staff, perhaps a warning in particular
for those 15 who have attempted the
Impossible Job of meeting English
expectations. Only Sir Alf Ramsey
(1963-1974) has done that. Sir Bobby
Robson (1982-1990), Terry Venables,
(1994-1996) and Southgate have come
close. 2016-? “I won’t outstay my
welcome,” Southgate said.
Yet only Southgate, 51, has followed
Ramsey in reaching a big tournament
final, and a Nations League tie at
Molineux this evening brings a reac-
quaintance with Roberto Mancini and
Italy, his nemesis from the climax of
Euro 2020. “We didn’t get across the
line, so that, inevitably, is going to live
with us for ever,” Southgate said.
Southgate has made mistakes, failing
to respond to Luka Modric’s growing
control in the semi-final against
Croatia at the 2018 World Cup, and
against Marco Verratti and Mancini’s
midfield players last summer.
He lives with the relentless criticism.
Was he too conservative? Why doesn’t
he start Jack Grealish more? Does he
actually believe in Trent Alexander-
Arnold? Southgate sat down on a sofa,
pushed the St George’s flag cushion to
one side, and addressed these issues.
“Jack’s started a lot of games for us
this season,” he said. “He had a brilliant
impact coming into the game [the 1-1
draw against Germany]. We had
Raheem [Sterling] and Bukayo
[Saka], who’ve had fantastic
seasons and scored and
created a lot of goals.”
Hence they started.
Phil Foden would have
been in contention if it
had not been for his
positive Covid test.
“I’m guessing the
suggestion is we
shouldn’t have played
[Mason] Mount. But without
the job Mount did on [Joshua]
Kimmich, we don’t get a result.”
Southgate’s point was of the quality
of alternatives restricting Grealish’s
starts. It was also a reminder of how
highly he values Mount, although it
cannot be forgotten that Kimmich was
pivotal to Germany’s goal.
After Jonas Hofmann scored in the
50th minute, the former England cap-
tain Gary Lineker tweeted: “England
trail and continue to struggle to pass the
ball and create anything while the best
passer in English football remains on
the bench. That would be [Alexander-
Arnold], if you weren’t sure.”
Alexander-Arnold was the only one
of Southgate’s players to be deemed
worthy of making the Premier League
team of the year, as voted by Profes-
sional Footballers’ Association mem-
bers (three of those in his latest squad
play abroad). “Trent’s a fantastic player,
I don’t think anybody has ever heard
me say differently,” Southgate said.
“We could only really play him in one
game this camp. He pulled out in
March. He wasn’t fit for the Euros.
‘I won’t be swayed by criticism’
EDDIE KEOGH/THE FA/GETTY IMAGESHenry
Winter
Chief Football
Writer
England
v ItalyUefa Nations League
Tonight, kick-off 7.45pm
TV: Channel 4
Radio: talkSPORTP W D L F A Pts
Italy 21 101 1 4
Hungary 2101 10 3
Germany 2020 1 1 2
England 20 1 1 0 1 1
Results Hungary 1 England 0; Italy 1
Germany 1; Germany 1 England 1;
Italy 2 Hungary 1.
Fixtures (7.45): Today England v Italy;
Hungary v Germany. Tuesday England
v Hungary; Germany v Italy. Sept 23
Germany v Hungary; Italy v England.
Sept 26 England v Germany;
Hungary v Italy.League A, group three
Southgate has
defended his
use of Grealish
as an impact
substitute