Dear Gareth – do it for me, Sir Bobby and England

Dear Gareth – do it for me, Sir Bobby and England
Gareth Southgate has the chance to do something that his predecessors never really came close to

The job of England manager brings with it a beautiful pressure. You hear so much about 1966 and what Sir Alf Ramsey’s team did, and you know how much expectation there is on you to end all those years of hurt.

I felt it. Sir Bobby Robson felt it. Every one of the 13 managers since Sir Alf will have felt it. None of us succeeded, but no one has come closer than Gareth Southgate.

By reaching a World Cup semi-final in 2018, a Euros final in 2020, the World Cup quarter-final and now a second successive Euros final, Gareth is certainly the best English coach since Sir Alf. Win in Berlin on Sunday and I believe he should be considered better.

Gareth has learnt from the mistakes we made – handling the mental block of penalties, in particular – and has gone further than any of us ever did.

Now he, his players and the entire nation must know England can win. If you believe in something it can happen, and that includes beating Spain in the final.

Jordan Pickford, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham of England celebrate after the team's victory in the Euro 2024 semi-final
England must believe they can beat Spain in Berlin - Getty Images/Michael Regan

You cannot overestimate how important Sunday could be to the future of English football. For generations to come, young boys and girls will be inspired to play. This team has the chance to show the whole country ‘here we are’.

Spain are very good – maybe the best team in the tournament – but in a final that does not matter. England can win.

I said in my first column that England would improve over time, and I was right. To be honest, I had said to myself they cannot go on playing such bad football with all these star names.

Against the Netherlands, England finally relaxed. They woke up and played some excellent football in the first half and it is the first time we have seen it in the tournament. They were playing to their strengths. They stepped up.

If you look at the players up front – Harry Kane, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka – they are world class. They have good defenders and have only conceded four goals so far. So they are the complete team. At the European Championship in 2004 we had a very good squad but we did not have the depth. If players were missing, you really felt it. Even if this team misses one or two through injury, they have the quality.

‘I never thought I would see the day when England were so good at penalties’

I still hope the final does not go to penalties like the Italy match and is settled in normal or extra time. If there are penalties, though, there is absolutely no fear.

I never thought I would see the day when England were so good at penalties. During my time, before it, and even a little bit after it, we were not good at them. At Euro 2004, we lost against Portugal on penalties and then to them again at the 2006 World Cup.

It felt like the pressure on every player was just too high. It was like a mental block.

One of my biggest regrets as England manager is that I did not appoint a psychologist to deal with that. I thought we were grown up and could handle the pressure of penalties but unfortunately it was not like that.

Gareth is very good with the mental side of dealing with footballers and is doing a great job of man management. But football is ever so strange – in one minute, or even just 10 seconds, everything changes.

Trent Alexander-Arnold of England scores the winning penalty kick in the penalty shoot-out against Switzerland
England's nerveless penalty taking in the quarter-final was a marked change from past years - Getty Images/Crystal Pix

In the matches against Slovakia and the Netherlands it changed for England in the blink of an eye. And when you are playing bad football against smaller teams the criticism is immense. I understand that perfectly.

If you take everything said or written about you to heart, it can send you half-crazy.

Gareth said after the Netherlands match that he just wants to be loved. Take it from me that football love does not last forever, it can come and go quickly.

Which brings us to Spain. Beating them will not be easy. I look at the star of their team, Lamine Yamal, who will have just turned 17 years old the day before the final – even Wayne Rooney was older than that when he burst onto the scene under me. And for me Yamal’s impact has brought back memories of the 1958 World Cup here in Sweden.

Brazil had a very young boy by the name of Pele. We all know about his incredible breakthrough and scoring two goals in the final. Players like these do not come through very often. Yamal should be in school. But it is us who will be reading about him for a long time, maybe up to the 2042 World Cup.

Yamal is fearless, just like Rooney. I will always remember the night when I told Wayne for the first time that he would be in the England team – and he just replied “OK”. Not “wow”. It all felt so normal to him.

However, there is nothing normal about waiting for a final. These next few days will feel like an eternity for Gareth, his staff and the players. Preparing for big games is intense, the importance is not lost on anyone and there is a lot of outside noise, but you have to take it as just another match.

You must try to calm it down, instead of going the other way. And Gareth knows that. Before England scored the winning goal on Wednesday night he looked very relaxed.

Lamine Yamal of Spain celebrates during the EURO 2024 semi-final match between Spain v France
There are shades of a young Pele in Lamine Yamal - Getty Images/Robbie Jay Barratt

I understand why you need to do that. One of my biggest games for England was the famous night in Munich when we played Germany in 2001. You have to remember the pressure would have been huge if we had lost the game but we prepared as normal, playing a 4-4-2 formation. We knew how Germany would line up and showed the players some videos before, but nothing out of the ordinary.

It was an amazing result to win 5-1. What a night that was, though I do feel the reaction was a little bit over the top – as it can be with England.

If they win I do not think anything will be over the top, though. Sunday’s final will be an open game and I think England have a big, big chance. And while I have not been feeling well over the past week or so, I will be watching the game from home.

I would love to see England win. So would every one of the managers who has tried and failed to win a major trophy since 1966. Come on, Gareth. Do what we never could.