Gareth Southgate: ‘I am the problem’

Gareth Southgate has admitted being England’s major problem at the European Championship, plunging his future as manager in doubt beyond the tournament.

Southgate, who had beer cups thrown at him after Tuesday’s draw with Slovenia, revealed on the eve of the finals it could be his “last chance” and says the unique environment in Germany is because of the narrative towards him.

The 53-year-old, who on Wednesday saw forward Phil Foden temporarily leave the camp to return home for the birth of his third child, fears his team returning to previous eras where the pressure placed on players stopped them from enjoying international call-ups.

“Our world is different at the moment and I feel that is probably because of me,” said Southgate. “I have to help the players as much as I possibly can because we brought the joy back into playing for England and we have to be very careful of where we head with it.

“Players have loved playing England the last six or seven years, we’ve got to keep that – we have to keep that. If we don’t, I understand the feeling towards me, but back the players, it’s crucial the fans back the players.”

Earlier in the week, Southgate showed his squad a video of other countries celebrating reaching the second round of the Euros but fans turned on him at Cologne Stadium after finishing top of Group C with a win and two draws.

Southgate insisted on going on the pitch in Cologne after the final whistle to salute fans despite their anger towards him, which he admits is now an “issue” for his squad.

“I kind of get it. They are not happy with me, which is the reality of that. I am not going to back away from that,” he said. “I have to deal with what I’m dealing with. I wasn’t going to back away from going over and thanking people for giving me the support they did but I know that is creating a bit of an issue for the group.

“I’m not going to hide from it. I’ve got to show my players the fearlessness we are asking of them on the pitch. So I will continue to do that. We are playing for big stakes, we are trying to do something that has never been done before and so we have to have a mentality that we are prepared to walk towards those challenges.”

On the eve of the finals, Southgate’s interview with German newspaper Bild was published, with the England manager saying he would be likely to leave his position if his team did not go one better than the last Euros and win the trophy.

His attack has failed to click during three matches so far but he reminded players in the hours before the Slovenia game of the achievement of making it to the knockout stage of the finals.

“I have to keep the players right on track,” he said. “On the day of the game I showed them pictures of Italy celebrating their qualification with their fans, of Hungary celebrating when they didn’t even know if they were through. Denmark celebrating a draw against us and they were on two points.”

John Stones was among the players to back Southgate after his fourth major tournament reaching the knockout stage. He and other players went over to the England end after the final whistle in Cologne when the beer cups were thrown at the manager.

“We can feel the tension from the small minority in the stands and that is to be expected,” Stones said. “We want to win games as well and we are fighting for each other and fighting for the shirt, trying to live everyone’s dream through us and we know we have to improve and do better.

“He (Southgate) is a great character, he controls everything (and) his emotions. We can’t control the outside pressure, that is something we shouldn’t get involved in.”