Southgate believes England 'capable of winning' Euro 2024
Gareth Southgate finally enjoyed a “Eureka!” moment as everything fell into place on Tuesday night. The word is Greek for “I have found it!” and was famously screamed from his bathtub by Archimedes. He was not, however, talking about the soap.
Instead, it was a self-proclamation of genius from a man who declared he could move the world provided he had a suitable single pivot. Genius indeed. Meanwhile lesser mortals like England manager Southgate now realise it takes a fully-fledged double pivot just to have a chance of lifting even the Euros.
England’s game against Italy was the measure of how little needed to change after the disappointment of the Euro 2020 final. Also, how necessary those changes were. If Luke Shaw were fit to play as a natural left-back this week, Southgate’s side would have had just three changes from the one that lost on penalties three summers ago.
Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Kieran Trippier out. In come Marcus Rashford, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham. Crucially, though, it is the shape of the team as a whole that has changed.
Three overly-cautious centre-backs ditched to allow those three newcomers to swarm around Harry Kane. “Every time you get to work together, you learn more,” Southgate said.
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“You go through different experiences, so we continue to improve, with the age of the players as well, individually they are going to keep improving. They work with great coaches every day with their clubs, so that helps, they are in big matches with their clubs as well which also helps.
“The big matches and the big experiences they go through together are really the thing that bonds them as a team, which is what you saw.“ Between now and the start of the tournament in Germany, all that is needed is more of that fine-tuning – especially now it has been confirmed the final squad must be 23 players, not 26 like the last Euros.
Can Harry Maguire be trusted to be on top of his game in major internationals if he is not playing regularly for his club? Marc Guehi’s late cameo was a sign that the former Manchester United captain might not have to.
Fitness allowing, Southgate then has a delicious choice to make between Bukayo Saka, injured this week, and Rashford. Not that Jack Grealish will give way to either without a fight, nor James Maddison, while we’re on it. Which leaves everything turning on those defensive midfield pivots.
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Playing somebody alongside the vastly improved Declan Rice gives Jude Bellingham the freedom to be Jude Bellingham – all that ever needs to be asked of the Real Madrid starlet in an England shirt.
Kalvin Phillips may yet get the regular football he needs to fit that extra pivot role perfectly – after all, he was England’s player of the year after that Euros final appearance when he was turning out regularly for Leeds.
Otherwise Southgate has four games to find the missing piece – a project which energises the 53-year-old rather than worrying him. “People should be excited,” Southgate said. “It’s an exciting group of players. Whoever we field there are always players that catch the eye, and excite the fans.”
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