British reporter’s handbook: Gareth Southgate’s army must beat Germany in the last match before the World Cup | Football news

news7f09/25/2022

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Rob Dorsett looks back at England's defeat to Italy and form heading into the World Cup. Image credit: Getty

England have been relegated from Group A3 of the Nations League and Germany failed to reach the final, but there will be more to it than pride in expertise when the two sides meet at Wembley on Monday. Sky Sports News‘senior reporter Rob Dorsett.

England lost 0-1 to Italy Friday has seen Gareth Southgate’s side extend their winless streak to five games, with only a game against Germany still to be played before the World Cup kicks off in November.

The Milan defeat means England are suffering their worst streak in eight years and another comeback would threaten to undo much of the hard work Southgate has done like he and his team prepare to face Qatar…

‘The cracks began to show in the context of poor form’

When he took over as England manager in 2016, Gareth Southgate said one of his main goals was to make the country love its football team again.

Decades of poor performance by the men’s team in major tournaments, coupled with unhealthy dislike among players and the national media, have created a rather toxic atmosphere around the world. UK ministry.

That malice is only heightened by a feeling within the team of ‘them and us’, with the commonalities of factions, segregation along the clubs.

Speak to Southgate now and he still thinks it’s one of his greatest achievements in the six years he’s been on the job – to reunite England’s players, media and supporters in a mutually positive direction.

A direction where it’s fun to train and compete in British training camp, it’s fun to pay your money to watch the team play and it’s fun to report on young superstars who are approachable and more accessible than ever.

The thing is, that solidarity is easy to cultivate and strengthen when the team is performing very well on the pitch. How can any real England fan, or British reporter, criticize the manager or the players when they have reached the World Cup semi-finals and the Euro final in successive tournaments?

How can any player complain that they don’t have much game time if the team keeps winning?

Now, for the first time in Southgate’s reign, rifts are starting to show in some of those key fan-media-team relationships and recent World Cup and Euro successes. This seems further away than ever.

Players support Southgate amid fan pressure, media

England have been relegated from the Nations League, lost consecutive international spots and are really in danger of facing Qatar after a confident six-match winless streak.

Southgate has been booed by some die-hard England fans at the end of each of the last two international tournaments. In contrast to when in Russia four years ago, many England fans wore waistcoats in memory of the main man.

Or compare the general attitude towards Southgate now to that of just a year ago, when a British pop favorite was still “Southgate you are one”.

At the same time as some of the supporters are turning against him, several important media also turn their backs on the British boss, accusing him of lack of tactics and even worse, is hypocritical to violate his own philosophy of choosing only. players in the form.

The good news for Southgate is that, while some media and fan bases have turned against him, the players do not appear to be.

Raheem Sterling emphasized that. A Southgate prodigy, the Chelsea winger has likened the England manager to a father figure since 17-year-old Sterling was first picked by him for the Under-21 side.

“Ever since the manager arrived, he’s always tried to protect us,” Sterling said. “He always tries to make the environment really quiet for us so we can go out there and do what we need to do on the football field.

“None of us are proud of those performances [the five games without a win] and I don’t think Gareth has to take on all those responsibilities.

“We have players in our squad who have played at the highest level and we need to take some of that responsibility and start getting some of these performances right.”

From what I have been told, Sterling’s sentiments are shared almost unanimously within the England team.

Even so, the shared sense of purpose, common purpose and shared ambition among fans, media and the team so painstakingly won by Southgate is under threat for the first time in six years.

Germany clash one last chance to reconnect before World Cup

The British boss is a truly modern manager who knows his relationship with the media is key to communicating with fans.

He’s thoughtful and respectful every time he speaks, so it’s a signature polite defiance that defined his final pre-match press conference before the World Cup, before this one against Germany.

It is clear that he wants to keep the media watching and is also determined to avoid criticizing his players in public – whatever he is telling them in private. Positivity and optimism are buzzwords around the England camp.

So when Southgate spoke, there were gentle reminders of how well England have done under him in the major leagues, rather than belligerently following past achievements.

Remember, his record is second with no other England manager except Sir Alf Ramsay.

There was no criticism from the media, even in the face of some harsh questions from me and other journalists in the press room at Tottenham’s luxury training ground, and no criticism either. for any England fan, who he says he can understand. their desire to boo.

There is little excuse for his team’s poor form and the more than 450 minutes of football they have played without a goal from open play.

But Southgate knows that the match against Germany – England’s last game before the World Cup – is of utmost importance.

Possibly a pity in the Nations League – England were relegated and Germany failed to win Group A3. But it was the team’s last chance to impress and reconnect with supporters, with a sell-out crowd of up to 90,000 at Wembley expected.

This is also a last chance to force us into the media to write and broadcast good things about England’s performance – something that hasn’t happened since the 3-0 win over Ivory Coast. in March. That victory, by the way, is in the middle of England’s 22-match unbeaten streak, which now seems a lifetime ago.

One last chance for England – many of whom are out of shape and out of favor at their clubs – to share a confidence-boosting reminder of victory. how.

At stake is the last chance for England supporters, the media and the team to reconnect, as Southgate is desperate for all of us to do and cheer together one last time before all of us. We go to Qatar.

Quite simply, England must beat Germany. The next two months will be a lot more exciting for everyone if they do.

Rarely does a game that has nothing riding on it has so much of it.

What’s next?

England host Germany at Wembley at 19:45 on Monday in the Nations League final match of the Group A3 campaign. This will also be the last match of the Three Lions before this winter’s World Cup.

Gareth Southgate is expected to name his 26-man squad for Qatar 2022 on October 20, soon ahead of FIFA’s deadline on Sunday, November 13.

England face Iran in the opening match of the World Cup on November 21 at Khalifa International Stadium, Doha.