GARETH Southgate took over as England manager in difficult circumstances. The Three Lions had suffered their most humiliating major tournament defeat just a few months previously. Southgate was England’s third manager in less than a year and expectations of what the national team’s future would hold were on the floor.

Since then, though, Southgate led England to two Euro finals as well as a World Cup semi-final and quarter-final. The Three Lions have established themselves as a top tier team at international level with Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and co. now among the favourites to win every tournament they enter.

Sunday’s defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final, however, was rightfully the end of the Southgate era for England. While Southgate did a lot to push the national team forward, The Three Lions are now at a stage where they require something different to take the next step in their development. They will get that now that Southgate has stepped down.

Against Spain, many of Southgate’s negative traits as a manager were exposed. England didn’t do enough to control the match. They were always going to have to endure periods of Spanish possession, but the general approach was too passive. England struggled to play out against the opposition press.

Southgate’s loyalty to Kane backfired as the Bayern Munich striker failed to make much of an impact. England might have had more success getting in behind the Spanish defence had they played Ollie Watkins from the start. Even Ivan Toney could have given them a stronger penalty box presence than Kane who appeared physically hindered throughout the tournament.

Worst of all, though, was England’s abject failure to build on Cole Palmer’s equaliser. At that stage, the momentum of the match looked to have swung towards Southgate’s side. Instead, England retreated – just as they did against France at the 2022 World Cup, Italy at Euro 2020 and Croatia at the 2018 World Cup.

Under Southgate, England were repeatable unable to impose themselves on matches against comparable opposition. While they earned a reputation as one of the strongest defensive units in international football, The Three Lions never had a game plan to get the best out of their world class attackers – only Romania and Scotland produced fewer big chances per game at Euro 2024 than England. 

“Now is not the time for me to speak about that,” Southgate said in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s painful loss to Spain, addressing questions about his future as England manager. “I need to talk to the right people and give myself a bit of time. To get to another final… it was a privilege to have the opportunity. But to come up short is hard at the moment.”

By Tuesday, Southgate had officially offered his resignation after offering hints all summer that Euro 2024 would be his final tournament. Many are said see Southgate go, but the opportunity this generation of England players presents is too great for The FA to sit on their hands and hope for the best. 

Eddie Howe and Graham Potter would be interesting options to replace Southgate while Mauricio Pochettino could be a foreign candidate worth talking to. Lee Carsley has been mentioned as an internal candidate who could follow the same pathway that saw Southgate go from U21 manager to senior team boss.

No other international team boasts the same level of attacking talent as England and this must be where the focus is ahead of the 2026 World Cup. This is where improvements must be made. The Three Lions must learn from their failure to overcome Spain on Sunday and that will involve the hiring of a new manager.

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