The former England manager has not made it clear that he wants to return to the big leagues, but he was on the Old Trafford shortlist after Erik ten Hag was sacked.
There’s no shortage of talk about the myriad aspects needed to be a successful manager of an elite soccer team, but there’s one quality that trumps all others. Maximize your players’ abilities. It’s very simple.
Yes, it helps to communicate better with a wider audience outside the dressing room. As Ruben Amorim can attest, continuing to wear a suit upstairs clearly helps. It helps to have a good agent and know a good agent. It also seems to help that it’s not in English. But the bottom line is that if you make the most of what you have at your disposal, you can achieve some good results.
As England manager, Gareth Southgate has had many things going for him. He was certainly a good communicator. Born in Blazer, he was a member of the Football Association. he was a diplomat. He was squeaky clean. He waved his wings a little.
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But these traits were just some of the reasons why England reached two European Championship finals, a World Cup semi-final and a World Cup quarter-final under his guidance. The main reason for this was that he got the most out of the players at his disposal. Major companies also responded to Southgate’s management team.
Harry Kane and Declan Rice are now giants of the game, class-leading world players. And they would have gotten there through their own determination and talent.
But talk to both of these players and they will tell you that they see Southgate as having played a huge role in their development as footballers, professionals and individuals. And they are not the only members of England’s squad over the past decade.
As the national team coach, we closely covered his long training camp leading up to the four major tournaments, and it was clear that he had almost universal admiration and respect from the players. And the same goes for his staff, and his boss.
His friend’s time in power at Old Trafford proved short-lived and Mr Southgate’s case lost a boardroom champion. But just because Dan Ashworth is no more will not deter Sir Jim Ratcliffe from setting his sights on Southgate.
Apparently the two had talked recently. I don’t know if Southgate’s politics will match Sir Jim’s, but that would be a small hurdle. But there are some key bases for the anti-Southgate argument put forward by what appears to be a large section of United’s fan base.
First of all, he was a crappy manager at Middlesbrough. True, but that was more than 16 years ago, and he has learned a lot about management and coaching since then.
And mainly, his playing style is said to be ultra-conservative. Well, it’s not piracy, that’s for sure.
However, England scored 213 goals in a 102 match reign. At the 2022 World Cup, his team scored 13 points in 5 games, although in the tournament he often played percentage football, which is common in that context.
But no, maybe he’s not very adventurous. But perhaps organization, a clear plan, and motivation are what this disjointed and dysfunctional team has sorely needed for a very long time.
Some have suggested that Sir Gareth, 55, does not want the stress that inevitably comes with such a high-pressure role. But at least Sir Jim should make it his job to figure it out.
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