Fifa World Cup 2022 – Gareth Southgate’s calm personality is a perfect fit for England players: After having several down years, England finally looks be back on the international stage with a bang, the Three Lions are one of the heavyweights who will be contesting for 2022 FIFA World Cup. England’s transformation from a sleeping giant to one of the contenders has not been an easy one. England manager Gareth Southgate has played big part in propelling England back where they belong, he has shown immense courage and commitment which has transformed England.
Fifa World Cup 2022: How Gareth Southgate’s calm personality proved to be the perfect fit for this talented crop of England players
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A three-year spell at Middlesbrough, which ended in relegation from the Premier League, and mixed results with England’s under-21s was all Southgate had to offer on his coaching CV when he was appointed. Initially appointed by as interim manager by the England Football Association in 2016, Gareth Southgate was quickly made permanent just after 4 games into his England career. It looked to be a perilous decision at first but soon Gareth Southgate found his feet, guiding England to 2018 World Cup semi-final and taking them to their 1st major international final in 55 years this during Euro 2020.
Fifa World Cup 2022: For decades, England managers have bowed to the will of media and fans to cram the most talented individuals into the starting line-up, even at the expense of the overall structure of the team.
Paul Scholes retired from international football after years of being stuck out of position on the left wing to make room for Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard as a “golden generation” failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals of major tournaments under Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was in charge from 2001 to 2006.By contrast, Gareth Southgate has been happy to leave an abundance of attacking talent on the bench.
Fifa World Cup 2022: How Gareth Southgate’s calm personality proved to be the perfect fit for this talented crop of England players
With captain Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling his tried and trusted pair up front, there were limited opportunities for Bukayo Saka, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford at the postponed Euros, staged earlier this year.
Fifa World Cup 2022: A crowd favourite, substitute Grealish even had to suffer the ignominy of being replaced after just 36 minutes of action as England made adjustments to see out their extra-time victory over Denmark in the semi-finals. “There is a nasty side to Gareth Southgate and he was spot-on to do that,” said former England captain Alan Shearer.
Fifa World Cup 2022: How Gareth Southgate’s calm personality proved to be the perfect fit for this talented crop of England players
England manager Gareth Southgate has been the perfect leader for a squad with a social conscience who are not content to let their football do the talking. Under his reign, England players have had to cope with racial abuse in Montenegro and Bulgaria. They began the tournament being booed by sections of their own fans for taking the knee as a protest against racial injustice. “The most important thing for our players is to know we are totally united on it, we are totally committed to supporting each other,” England manager Gareth Southgate said at the time, standing up to complaints from leading politicians about “gesture politics”.
Fifa World Cup 2022: That moral stance will be under the spotlight in the coming year, given the concerns raised by human rights groups over the staging of the World Cup in Qatar. “We will take the time to educate ourselves,” Gareth Southgate said after sealing qualification last week. “If we feel that there are areas that we can highlight and help, then clearly, we’ve always tried to do that, and we would do that.
“England manager Gareth Southgate’s tactical nous has consistently been questioned, but he has shown a willingness to adapt to what is required to win. In Russia three years ago, the switch to a back five protected an inexperienced goalkeeper and defense.
Fifa World Cup 2022: Since then he has largely used a 4-3-3 to make the most of the wealth of attacking options at his disposal. But he has also been willing to revert to the back five when needed to thrust forward his wing-backs to good effect. The selection of a 5-3-2 for the Euro 2020 final quickly paid off when one wing-back, Kieran Tripper, crossed for another, Luke Shaw, to give England the perfect start in the second minute. All that is left for Southgate to prove is that he can to go one step further in delivering England’s long-awaited major tournament win.
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