Gareth Southgate believes he has improved as a manager since his defeat to Italy in the Euro final as England attempt to qualify for the European Championship final next summer with two games remaining.
A home match against Italy on Tuesday night would confirm England’s place in Germany after smacking the Azzurri in Naples in March to secure a minimum rematch for their penalty strike-out defeat to Roberto Mancini’s side in this final. Southgate will face a new Italian counterpart Luciano Spalletti after Mancini’s resignation in August and said he could build on the experience of becoming the first English men’s manager since Sir Alf Ramsey to reach a grand final.
“They manage big games all the time in one of football’s most prestigious positions, so of course, like any coach, they improve every day,” said Southgate, who will be 89. “I’m sure all the coaches would say that they are superior than they were six months ago; they know more, are more experienced and have experienced more situations.
“I had never reached a European final before, so next time I will have another reference and they will have more experience. It’s that simple. You can gain experience only when you are in these moments. People asked me what I would do differently that night, but if I had done something different, I don’t know how it would have turned out.
“You make decisions with the information you have at a given time, and that plays out in front of everyone. Everyone can then say in retrospect what should have happened, but this tape is never played and no one really knows the answer.”
Southgate believes England have made significant progress on and off the pitch in the last seven years in which they have qualified for the tournaments.
“Everyone outside is always questioning themselves,” he said. “But as a young coach, you question yourself the same way because you don’t have any evidence. Now I have 10-15 years of evidence. A lot of victories in this job, a lot of big evenings in this job, where you have much more confidence in what you are doing and in the reality of constant achievements over a long period of time.”
Southgate said he would continue to opt for Jordan Henderson despite the midfielder being the target of fan boos when he was substituted in Friday’s friendly against Australia. “Yes, 100 percent,” he said. “I choose the players that I think represent the team the best and give us the best chances to win, unless we think that something is not appropriate.
“People may disagree with Jordan’s position and decision, but I don’t think that’s a reason not to pick him. I don’t think that’s a reason to buy it out. We want all the fans to be behind us. We are a stronger team with the fans behind us. If it was a popularity contest, our team would be completely different.
“The English fans were brilliant. They are behind the team. We’ve had a couple of incidents that I don’t understand because I don’t think any player in the England jersey justifies that. I grew up with John Barnes, who received this kind of criticism. That doesn’t help the team. We are all trying to achieve the same and build a successful English team.
“There has been one of the best connections in the middle of team and group for many decades. In the end, everyone who comes to a football field pays his money and has the right to react at will. We would love you with us. We have more energy when you are with us. And the team will go one step further when it is with us. But otherwise we will crack and keep trying to win.”
