England manager Gareth Southgate, who was expected to step down from his position after he failed to bring the Cup home, has announced his decision to continue his position and role as the England manager.
Southgate has ended the speculation by media about his future as manager after Three Lions were kicked out of the World Cup by the French by choosing to stay and lead the English front.
The 52-year-old has been at the helm for almost six years now and refused to make any official statements about his future plans, whether he would continue as the leader for the Three Lions or depart, following their disappointing elimination from the quarterfinals.
Gareth Southgate has been the victim of heavily aimed criticism by English supporters and has been accused of being pragmatic, despite taking England to the semi-finals in the World Cup and to the finals of last year’s Euro cup against Italy.
It was rumored that after all this while, Southgate had finally made up his mind to step down as the England boss after their defeat in the quarterfinals at the hands of France; in fact, the FA also feared losing him.
However, Southgate had expressed multiple times that he had enjoyed England’s campaign on Qatari soil, on the contrary, the fans of the English side aren’t too happy about it, and wanted him to leave. Hence, despite everyone thinking he was about to leave, Southgate had apparently decided to give his job another chance.
Southgate probably wants to lead the team into the next Euros as he believes that his squad is pretty young and will realize their potential as trophy winners soon in their next tournaments.
The FA also apparently had no replacement for Southgate lined up and hence would have a rough time finding one when they did not want to bring anyone new on board. Southgate’s decision has lifted a burden off the shoulders of the FA, and his staying would give their vision for the English team a huge boost.
Southgate spoke last weekend to the sources and said,
“I’ve found large parts of the last 18 months difficult. For everything that I’ve loved about the last few weeks, I still have how things have been for 18 months.
“What’s been said and what’s been written, the night at Wolves [where England lost 4-0 to Hungary]. There are lots of things in my head that are really conflicted at the moment, so what I want to make sure, if it’s the right thing to stay, is that I’ve definitely got the energy to do that.”
