Touted as one of the favourites for the tournament before it had kicked off, the Three Lions have been hanging on by their fingernails. Under normal circumstances a quarter-final against Switzerland would hold no fears whatsoever, however, the Swiss have been playing above themselves in the tournament and, given England’s own form, will represent another tough challenge. Southgate’s England need to up their game In Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, Southgate has the Player of the Year in both the Premier League and La Liga at his disposal, as well as the Bundesliga’s top scorer, and yet England have looked a shadow of the team that they could be.
Former super agent and co-creator of the Premier League, Jon Smith, believes the problems derive from Gareth Southgate’s backroom team. “I like Gareth Southgate a lot, and I used to work with him years ago. He’s a super human being and a great manager.
Over the years you see the other great managers, but now it’s always a management team.,” he told CaughtOffside for his . “In days gone by, when I was working with people like Fergie, he wasn’t the greatest tactician, but he acknowledged that and hired the best tacticians, managing them from an overall capacity and in his case, very personally.
“I’m sadly of the view that the coaching set up around Gareth Southgate at the moment just isn’t right. It doesn’t play to the strengths of the players that he’s got. “Look at the way the team played las.
