‘Responsibility is mine’ – Southgate defends England’s players
The English national team gets under the wheels in the Nations League against Hungary. After the humiliation, coach Gareth Southgate spoke of a “difficult evening” and stood protectively in front of his players.
The uncertainty in England is great. After the debacle against Hungary, national coach Gareth Southgate has been heavily criticized. He takes responsibility for the historic bankruptcy – and is faced with a departure from his style of play.
Nfter the worst home defeat for the England team in more than 90 years, coach Gareth Southgate has been at the center of criticism. In contrast to many fans and some experts, captain Harry Kane didn’t want to know anything about Southgate’s dismissal after the 4-0 draw in the Nations League against Hungary on Tuesday evening.
“I shouldn’t even be answering that question, to be honest,” Kane said on British television. “This is our first major defeat in a long time. (…) Of course that was a night to forget, but we have to take it and move on,” said the Tottenham Hotspur attacker.
Many of the crowd in Wolverhampton expressed their frustration with boos and whistles and chants towards Southgate. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” they chanted in unison. Ex-national player Jamie Carragher rebuked the English supporters after the mockery chants. “Shut up, you clowns,” tweeted today’s TV expert: “This manager has led the country to its two best rankings since 1966.”
However, the first experts also questioned the future of the coach, who had led England to the final against Italy at the European Championship in their own country last summer and before that to the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup.
“There are other candidates who are better suited”
Ex-national player Gary Lineker limited himself on Twitter to wishing for a style of play like that of Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp. After just one goal in the four Nations League games without a win over the past two weeks, ex-Liverpool professional Stephen Warnock told BBC radio: “I’m not sure he’s the right man. There are other candidates who are better suited – and I’m sure Gareth Southgate is under pressure from now on.”
The heaviest home defeat since a 5-1 loss to Scotland in 1928 caused great uncertainty in England. “We haven’t lost many football games and when you lose that badly, especially at home, it’s very painful in England,” said Southgate. “Of course a night like this is difficult and it’s important that I take that off your shoulders , because that was absolutely my fault.”
Not the team, he himself decided on the numerous changes and the tactical orientation of the team. “The responsibility for this lies with me. It was difficult to send out the strongest team in every game, so we used it to prepare for Qatar,” he said. “I feel compassion because I specifically chose teams for the two games against Hungary where I tried to to balance the team and give young players an opportunity. I didn’t get that balance to deliver at a level that was necessary to win those games.”
Southgate’s team remains bottom of the table, which would ultimately mean relegation to the B division. The surprisingly strong Hungarians, on the other hand, lead the group ahead of Germany and Italy after four matchdays.
