Gareth Southgate: 'Now is not the time' to talk about England future

Gareth Southgate refused to be drawn on his future as England manager after watching his side suffer another heartbreak in the final of the European Championship.

Three years on from losing Euro 2021, Southgate’s side were again on the wrong end of an agonising defeat going down 2-1 to Spain in Berlin.

Nico Williams opened the scoring before substitute Cole Palmer raised the prospect of another dramatic comeback with a late equaliser after coming off the bench.

But Spain replacement Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winner with just four minutes remaining to give his country a record fourth European title.

Southgate’s future has been the subject of much speculation in recent times with the expectation he would leave following England’s exit from the Qatar World Cup in 2022 only to stay in position to lead his side to Germany.

He was again questioned about his plans following Sunday’s defeat with his contract due to expire in December.

“Now is not the time for me to speak about that,” he told the BBC. “I need to talk to the right people and give myself a bit of time.

“To get to another final… it was a privilege to have the opportunity. But to come up short is hard at the moment.”

Asked again in his press conference, he added: “I totally understand the question and understand you need to ask it, I need to have those conversations with important people behind the scenes, and I’m obviously not going to discuss that publicly first.”

Southgate has been in charge of England since 2016 and guided the country to two European Championship finals and the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.

The Euro 2024 final against Spain was Southgate’s 102nd as England manager, winning 64, drawing 20 and losing 18. Only Walter Winterbottom and Sir Alf Ramsey have managed more England games and, of coaches who have taken charge of multiple England fixtures, only Fabio Capello has a better win percentage.

England topped the group in Germany but Southgate faced scrutiny over his team selection and cautious approach amid concerns he was not getting the best out of this generation of attacking players. Objects from the crowd were thrown in his direction while some supporters booed his team off following the goalless group stage draw with Slovenia.

A last-minute overhead kick from Jude Bellingham saved England from a shock last-16 exit to Slovakia, before they won a third penalty shootout of Southgate’s tenure to progress past Switzerland in the quarter-finals. A last-minute Ollie Watkins goal against the Netherlands then secured their spot in the final.

“We’re giving people amazing nights,” Southgate said following the Netherlands victory. “We’ve given our supporters some of the best nights in the last 50 years. I’m hugely proud of that.”

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: “We came to Germany to win the tournament, and we didn’t want it to end this way. We are all hurting tonight, but we should be incredibly proud.

“I would like to thank Gareth, Steve, all of the players and the support team for their huge commitment and hard work to try to win the trophy for the country. They will be more disappointed than anyone to fall just short.

“This is our fourth major tournament final in four years for the Three Lions and the Lionesses, and our ambition to win major tournaments is stronger than ever. Our wonderful fans have supported us with pride and passion here in Germany and back at home.

“Everyone involved with England wants to make the country proud, and we really appreciate their support.”

After defeat to Spain, Southgate stated his belief that England are in “a really good position” going forward despite the disappointment they are obviously feeling.

“The players will take enormous credit for getting us to where we did but when you’re as close as that, you have to take your chance,” Southgate told ITV.

“They have represented the shirt with pride and haven’t been beaten until the very end. I just think Spain had more control of the game.

“England are in a really good position in terms of the experience they have. Most of this squad will be around for the next World Cup and maybe the next Euros.

“There’s a lot to look forward to but at this moment, it’s not any consolation.”

“Without a doubt England have got some fabulous young players and even the young ones now have got a lot of experience of tournaments. Many of this squad are going to be around in two, four, six or eight years time,” he added in his press conference.

“We have now been consistently back in the matches that matter. Its the last step that we haven’t been able to do.”

(Top photo: Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images)