Perhaps Gareth Southgate wasn\u2019t all that bad, and deserves another shot at Thomas Tuchel\u2019s England job in the \u2018ultimate redemption story\u2019?<\/p>\n
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
What now?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u200bSo, it looks like the FA have decided they liked what they saw and want more of the same. Sticking with Tuchel is probably the honourable thing to do<\/strong><\/a> after they literally put all their eggs in his basket on the basis of a decent win over Serbia. Nice man, great pressers. All talk.<\/p>\n The fallout from this World Cup feels a lot more devastating that any others I can remember. Kane has undoubtedly been our greatest striker ever but he is reaching the end of his career, he won\u2019t be here for the next World Cup so, like they do in Rugby Union, maybe we need to start thinking of the next cycle rather than just playing until he\u2019s done. My guess is he\u2019ll hang on for the Euros but then anyone stepping in will have limited game time and we\u2019ll only be two years away form the next World Cup. Much as I love Kane, now is the time to phase him out. Trouble is, where are his successors? Looking at the list of strikers under the age of 30 anywhere near a first team and we have Liam Delap. That\u2019s it. He\u2019s literally our only option. He did look promising before he went to Chelsea, he has the ability so bring him in now so he can learn from Kane and build a reputation. This is where Lee Carsley would have been a sensible choice, he\u2019s been instrumental in bringing players through and experiencing success at the yoof levels but no, the FA wanted a \u2018proven winner\u2019.<\/p>\n Centre backs? That World Cup squad looks very old all of a sudden. Guehi looked alright, Konsa does not look like a tournament winner, Stones is too old, Burn no where near good enough. We need to be looking outside the WC squad and getting some experience into the likes of Braithwaite and Levis Colwell. Again, we have had success with the youth teams so why don\u2019t we try and pull them through to the seniors as a group?<\/p>\n We missed a chance to give a whole host of young players with potential some real World tournament experience but took players like Henderson and Burn and gap fillers. My fear is that Tuchel\u2019s back is now against the wall so he will double down on his squad and try and take the majority to the Euros.<\/p>\n We all saw the fear that England teams used to play with, Robson, Taylor, Sven, Capello, Hodgson \u2013 none of them could shift it. Now the fear is back and Tuchel is going to have to do something radical to shift it. \u00a0<\/p>\n Southgate\u2026in?<\/strong><\/p>\n So I\u2019ve seen some pundits bound about the notion that this was a good experience for Tuchel to \u201cunderstand international tournament football\u201d. Now I may be crazy here but on the wages that Tuchel is on I don\u2019t think we should be getting a \u201clearn on the job\u201d kind of guy, world cups only come around every 4 years and players careers at their peaks only last around 8 years if they\u2019re lucky so it\u2019s not like there\u2019s exactly time to bed in.<\/p>\n This did get me thinking though and this may be me looking back through rose tinted glasses but if this is a factor\u2026..what if we got Gareth back in? Hear me out.<\/p>\n Granted it ended on a bit of a low<\/strong><\/a> and he never got that elusive trophy but he did get us to multiple semi finals and finals with an at those tournaments underperforming Kane and a not fully matured Bellingham. Hell, the first team he took deep into a tournament we were all half expecting a group stage exit!<\/p>\n Look at his CV if he hadn\u2019t already managed England:<\/p>\n \u2013 tournament experience If he hadn\u2019t already managed England then I\u2019m sure the FA would be sniffing around.<\/p>\n There isn\u2019t much time for a manager to get \u201cup to speed\u201d but for him that\u2019s not a problem. We\u2019ve broken up for a bit, we\u2019ve gone away and had some time to reflect.<\/p>\n This could be England\u2019s equivalent of the last dance.<\/p>\n Kane, Pickford, Maguire in the twilight of their careers. Southgate coming back for one last roll of the dice. Back to where it all started, back to Wembley, back to where they now share Southgate\u2019s pain, back to put all the wrongs right.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the ultimate redemption story. \u00a0<\/p>\n TT is no scapegoat<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m not buying any of the punditocracies scapegoating our manager .<\/p>\n The players were physically and mentally knackered , the coaching team saw the players retreating , akin to their cojones retreating within them . It was a huge occasion , Pickford was poorly positioned for the goal .<\/p>\n Argentina are framing it as an epic comeback akin to United v Bayern .<\/p>\n Rooney doesn\u2019t have a leg to stand on with his world cup no-shows . \u00a0<\/p>\n Beating the favourites<\/strong><\/p>\n If I can get a quick right of reply to Hodge regarding England beating decent teams<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Firstly, I was talking about the World Cup. If we include the euros as well, then yes, England did beat the joint 4th favourites at home.\u00a0Congratulations. They beat a German team who failed to progress from their group at the world cups either side of Euro 2020. I don\u2019t think even the most optimistic German would have them tipped for the title.<\/p>\n The comment about the Netherlands is irrelevant. I never said England don\u2019t beat decent teams. Norway are a decent team. I said England don\u2019t and haven\u2019t beaten the favourites.<\/p>\n The point still stands. When England play the favourites, they lose. The sole exception is 1966 (again a home tournament).<\/p>\n We could extend it further and say that England have never, in the history of international football, beaten one of the favourites in a knockout match on foreign soil. That\u2019s why they will continue to be a b-tier nation.<\/p>\n But hey, guess where there next euros are? So you never know. \u00a0<\/p>\n As an outsider looking in at the English national team, and listening to the comments since the Argentina match about how they blew it, England were unlucky, Tuchel bottle it etc.. There is a blind spot the fans, journalists etc have, which is that England are not that good.<\/p>\n They\u2019re no better than Denmark or Greece.<\/p>\n Denmark, England and Greece have each won one major senior international men\u2019s cup. England\u2019s last win was 60 years ago now, a lot longer than the other two nations. You could throw Portugal in there too, and if you want, add in Chile (I know Chile won it twice since 66) and Colombia for the Copa America.<\/p>\n Yet, there is a belief, almost divine right, that England should do well in every tournament they are in. That they should get to final\u2019s and win. But what have they actually achieved. They\u2019ve gotten to two WC semi finals, Belgium have gotten to the same amount since 66, should they be expected to do the same each tournament? England got to the final\u2019s of Euro 2021, I\u2019d but a massive asterisk on that because of covid and the very favourable draw. And even then lost to a not great Italian team.<\/p>\n And I\u2019ve seen this belief first hand. I was at Euro 2016, with a good friend of mine Luke (we\u2019re both Irish) and his roommate and his friends (all English). We were all at Ireland v Italy, and had a great night. The draw wasn\u2019t finalised until after that match, as that was the last of the group games.<\/p>\n So once they were confirmed to have gotten Iceland, which we all agreed was a favourable draw, they all went to book their accommodation. Not just for the Iceland match, but for the round after as they were so confident that Iceland wouldn\u2019t pose a problem (I think one was even going to book the semi final too). My friend and I, being Irish and naturally pessimistic, advised them not to do so as you have to play Iceland first, it would be bad luck, who knows what could happen etc. Yet they went ahead, and it turned out as we expected.<\/p>\n And this happens each tournament. You had that eejet Rory Jennings saying \u201cwe\u2019ll smash Argentina 3-0\u201d, \u201cwe\u2019ll send Messi home crying\u201d and actually believing themselves. Pundits saying that Argentina are not that good of a team, deriding the leagues were some of their players play. Yet when the game is played, it\u2019s usually England that come up short.<\/p>\n You may say that England were unlucky. I would say that they were lucky to win a WC in the first place. They were definitely lucky to get as far as a semi final this time around. And the reality that England are \u201call trousers and no show\u201d needs to be accepted. There needs to be more humility and pessimism about England\u2019s odds of doing well. As their record of coming up short speaks for itself.<\/p>\n (Maybe I\u2019m too pessimistic) \u00a0<\/p>\n It was fairly obvious that the English were really getting ahead of themselves game by game this tournament. Whether it was the fans, pundits or media (F365 include). People were acting like Tuchel was a genius when in reality it was just more of the same of what Southgate had done previously.<\/p>\n Beating Congo, Mexico and Norway was obviously expected and it\u2019s not as if England were brilliant in any of those games. The Harry Kane situation is very odd. He really just doesn\u2019t seem to do well in games that matter the most<\/strong><\/a>. He scores a lot from penalties and then looks lethargic against the big sides. The Rice criticism is very odd. It\u2019s insulting to compare him to Scott McTominay<\/strong><\/a>. He has far more to his game. He\u2019s the best player for the Premier League champions and a team that nearly won the CL. He isn\u2019t the problem. Every side would love a player like Declan Rice. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Tom. The catharsis of writing in has saved my sanity \u2013 so thanks for being there 365!<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u2013 pedigree of taking teams deep into knockouts
\u2013 track record of developing young talent
\u2013 knows the players
\u2013 knows the \u201cclub\u201d
\u2013 available<\/p>\n
Anthony, Kilburn<\/strong><\/p>\n
Peter ( hoping Spain win the final ) Andalucia<\/strong><\/p>\n
Mike, LFC, Dubai<\/strong><\/p>\n
Michael Dixon<\/strong><\/p>\n
Dion<\/strong><\/p>\n