Even if England do not beat Euro 2024 tournament favourites, Spain, on Sunday, Gareth Southgate deserves to be hailed as the best England manager ever.
Bobby Robson, Terry Venables and Sir Alf Ramsey deserve more than a cursory mention in this particular conversation, but Southgate stands alone in how he transformed the Three Lions during his tenure.
Sir Alf remains the only England manager to have won major silverware, and both Robson and Venables are close to emulating him.
It could be said that football under Venables, the team Southgate was a part of, was more pleasing to the eye.
However, even though they have yet to make it to the top of the competition, the consistency shown by Southgate’s England teams over the past few years should not be overlooked.
There is a solidity about them that elevates them above the ‘Golden Generation’ of Messrs. Beckham, Scholes, Lampard, Gerrard and Rooney et al.
Their toughest test is yet to come, though it may work for them. No one really expects England to beat a Spain team with the likes of Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo and others in it, and as such, the pressure is on La Roja.
As we have seen many times before, dealing with such pressure can be the difference between winning and losing.
Southgate will prepare his troops as carefully as ever and, regardless of whether England wins or loses, he can leave his position with his head held high, erasing the memories of his failure to serve his country almost 30 years ago.
Time to put some respect on his name.
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