Should Gareth Southgate stay on as England manager? [I Love Real Football]

Poll - Total Votes: 12

Yes

You can only vote on one answer.

I think he really should. If you agree or disagree, please say why.

I don't think he is a perfect coach but I think he is a pretty good one he is the right man for England. He got some big calls one in the final but then he got calls right in every other match.

There is an argument that he is too defensive and I'm genuinely in two minds about this one. England has a lot of great attacking players - so the argument goes - so to make England a defensive counter-attacking team is wasting a strength. Against Italy - so has been said - we were too defensive and this played into Italy's hands

It might be true that we do have a lot of good attackers but they are all wingers or number tens. They are players to beat a man or play the final ball and not players to dominate a midfield against a top team. Philips and Rice played well but they are primarily tacklers and blockers. We don't have a world-class creative 8 (like De Bruyne) or a deep-lying playmaker (like Jorginho). Without players like that, I don't think it's possible to dominate possession against a big rival. Foden, Bellingham, or Rice (who is still young and more attacking for West Ham) could develop into those players but they are there yet. Also, the game against Italy was more England being forced back by a technical team overloading the middle than a deliberate strategy to park the bus. Southgate does deserve criticism for not bringing on Grealish earlier and f***ing up the penalties but that is about it.

In short, I think it was probably right to play quite defensively in these Euros with the players available and I also think that before the final, Southgate got almost everything right. I would like us to be more attacking going forward but I think there is a good chance that Southgate himself realises that too.

Is Southgate really a worse coach for England than all those guys who thought Lampard, Gerrard, and Beckham could play in midfield together? We got to three semi-finals in seventy years before Southgate and two in five years with him at the helm. He's actually got us to three semi-finals if you count the European Nations League.

Could England get anyone else as good? If you are talking about English Managers, then who is there? Eddie Howe, Sean Dyche... bringing Big Sam back? Graham Potter has done some interesting things at Brighton but I'm really not convinced. Big-name foreign managers (Erikkson and Capello) did badly with England and most A-list coaches don't wanna take charge of a national team anyway. Italy only got Mancini because his career took a temporary nose-dive since he left Man-City. Brendan Rodgers is the only name I can think of who [i]might [/i]take the job, [i]might [/i]be acceptable to England fans and [i]might [/i]be an improvement on Southgate. All three 'mights' are a stretch though.

All things considered, I think we should definitely stick with Southgate.

Lacemaker · 41-45, F

I don't know much about football but I read a lot about the Euros. Everyone has weaknesses but he owns up to them. He has his feet on the ground and genuinely cares about his younger players, who definitely needed support after Sunday's defeat. He's a good guy.

Lacemaker · 41-45, F

@Burnley123 I think it would be sheer madness to bring in a new manager before the World Cup too. The team needs someone who's established and knows them. They need to look at the Euro Cup as a run-up to this. I think they'll be in the running but won't necessarily win the WC.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Lacemaker I agree completely. Given the lack of alternatives, I actually want Southgate to continue after the WC too. He is only fifty, which is still quite young and he might want to get back into club management at some point.

We won't necessarily win the WC but no team can claim that they can. Italy is quite an old team and even 18 months can make a difference in this game. They will also have a bit less motivation because they have just won a trophy. I could be wrong, but I don't think they will be quite as good in the WC.

France always has great players and will be motivated after the way they got knocked out. Germany will probably improve under their new coach and they are pretty good anyway. Brazil will be contenders too. Lots of other teams will think they have an outside chance. The football world has tough competition in the top bracket but I think we will be contenders for the next five years at least.