Aspire in the World Fellows Book - 2025

41 ASPIRE IN THE WORLD FELLOWS 11TH ASPIRE ACADEMY GLOBAL SUMMIT STARCHAT (05) STAR CHAT Gareth Southgate I’ve had a year where I’ve still been working with coaches in the UK. I’ll always be there to help young coaches if they need advice or support. I’ve also enjoyed doing some things outside football; a lot of work on leadership and helping young men in our country, while keeping one foot in the game with Rafa on UEFA’s technical panel. I also like watching the players who played for me and seeing how everything is developing. When I took over in 2016, the team lacked confidence. There was a disconnection with the supporters, a fear within the team, and, as always with England, high expectation but not much evidence of results. I’d joined the Federation to help develop young players, and I knew the types coming through our system. As a coach, you can have ideas about philosophy, but you still have to win in the short term. Winning buys you time, and you need time to implement change. It worries me that young coaches feel they must stick rigidly to a philosophy when owners and federations don’t have patience. Our challenge was to show enough progress, develop the team quickly, give opportunities to young players, and still qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Once we arrived at the World Cup, we had to decide the best way to approach it. We played three at the back in 2018 because of our profiles. In England we haven’t been good at developing Have you recharged your batteries after being England Manager for so long? Over your time with England there was an evolution. Can you talk through what drove that change? number sixes who can receive under pressure. Spain and Portugal do; we don’t. Our midfield options were Eric Dier, a converted defender and Henderson, more of a pressing eight. Our defenders, Stones and Maguire, were inexperienced but good on the ball. We were short of left backs. Ashley Young, a converted winger, was perfect for wing-back, and Walker had the speed and experience to play on the outside of a back three. So, the midfield balance and player attributes suited that shape. In clubs, you recruit for a philosophy, but even that isn’t simple. In national teams, you get your best players on thepitchwhere they’remost effective. You don’t have long on the training pitch, and by 16 or 17 players’ habits are formed. Lingard, for example, played wide or centrally at United, but for us he naturally moved into number -10 areas, which suit a 3-5-2. Kane was our best player and a world-class nine, so that was the starting point. At that time, we didn’t have great depth in wingers. Two years later we did: Sancho, Sterling, Rashford, Hudson- Odoi, Grealish, Saka. That allowed us to be more aggressive and play with wingers, though the midfield issue remained. When we played Italy in 2021, they had Jorginho and Verratti, players who can receive, turn, and play forward. It looks simple but takes years of working in formation. Because our midfielders were more comfortable receiving with the play in front of them, we worked on patterns where they dropped into the back line. Over the eight years, the team kept evolving because your best players change. With players like Saka, Foden, and Bellingham, we had to get them into areas where they were most comfortable and dangerous while still defending well. It’s simple: if you have speed at the back, you can play a high line; if not, you must be cautious. If your forwards can press, you press; if not, you wait. It isn’t always about philosophy; it’s about making good decisions for the players you have.