The painful truth about Gareth Southgate’s England

Football, so they say, is a results business – except when it comes to Gareth Southgate, the England manager. In his case it is apparently about so many more things than winning. It is about the harmony he brings to the dressing room, his grown-up relationship with the players, the way he conducts his press conferences, and even what he wears (waistcoat, anyone?) as he stands on the touchline during international matches. In Gareth we trust is the unofficial mantra of Southgate’s true believers. It is seen as bad form to question the widespread sense that the national team, under his guidance, is destined to win this summer’s Euros in Germany. 

Running alongside these fantasies are humdrum realities, such as last night’s friendly against Belgium at Wembley. There were mitigating factors, not least the long list of injuries that meant star players like Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka were missing.