Gareth Southgate has made it clear that there will be no other Baden-Baden, as England will complete their base camp and training ground for the European Championships in Germany next summer.
When England last visited Germany for a major tournament – the World Cup – they stayed in the Black Forest spa town of Baden-Baden and it became a media circus with the wives, girlfriends and family members of the players at the center. The Final is as memorable as England’s difficulties due to the Chaos off the pitch; Sven-Göran Eriksson’s team was eliminated by Portugal in the quarter-finals.
Southgate wants a quiet retirement for himself and the squad with world-class training facilities – having prioritised something similar in his last two tournaments outside England. During the World Cup in Russia, England stayed in the isolated Repino, in the wooded area 45 minutes from St. Petersburg, while during the World Cup in Qatar last year, they holed up in Al-Wakrah, south of Doha.
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Southgate, as always, will want the players’ families to be part of the collective experience, but there is no peril of a repeat of Baden-Baden. “Well, no,” Southgate replied when presented with the prospect. “I was not involved in this tournament, so I don’t know how it all happened, but we have a great environment with our players.
“We want their families to be able to enjoy the tournament as well. Usually we welcome you at different times. It changes the dynamic of the hotel, especially when the children come in, and I think these elements are important for the players.
“We really want a place where we can be a little alone. We need this beautiful contrast of relaxation and areas in which to work. You want to minimize travel where you can. Our FA staff are really good at choosing the venues that I think the players will like and feel comfortable at. You basically want to be somewhere where everything that’s going on around you… you can really withdraw. But somewhere with facilities that are good for working.”
The Football Association has visited Germany to evaluate the potential bases and will choose one after the draw for the group stage in Hamburg on December 2 and the match venues are known.
“There is basically a [UEFA] catalogue and you have to come in early if you want, in certain places or you can try to leave the catalogue and do something else,” Southgate said. “We had both options available and we are eager to finalize all our plans.”
