Gareth Southgate needs to win back love of the nation

Whatever the rights and wrong of the scatological criticism aimed at England by Gary Lineker and Co, there is no doubt that Gareth Southgate and his players need to re-engage a disillusioned public.

The response to the underwhelming European Championship showing, so far, has been a rising tide of anger and frustration. Failure to provide an improved performance in the last group game against Slovenia will risk that developing into a tsunami or, as Lineker might put it, a ‘s---storm’.

England were alarmingly poor in their draw against Denmark, which there was certainly no disputing of from Southgate in his honest post-match appraisal nor the journalists asking questions and writing about it, and they were not much better in the narrow win over Serbia that preceded it.

Where it leaves England is top of Group C, with four points, but also in familiar territory. “We’ve trodden this path before,” Southgate said. And so have England in the tournaments both during and before his time as manager.

The difference, for Southgate, is that he has reached a semi-final, a final and a quarter-final. And no manager or previous group of England players have ever achieved that. His overall record is second only to Sir Alf Ramsey.

In the 2018 World Cup there was disapproval of Southgate’s decision to make eight changes in the final group game against Belgium, losing it and leading to the fear that momentum would be lost. It was not. England beat Colombia in the last-16 by winning a penalty shootout for the first time since Spain at Euro 96.

Then in the last Euros England disappointed in a goalless draw against Scotland at Wembley in their second group game and were under fire again. They followed that up with a comfortable victory over the Czech Republic.

At the last World Cup in Qatar there was another goalless draw in the middle group game, this time against the United States which provoked headlines of “Yawn in the USA” and anger in the England camp of photographs of players’ partners being used to illustrate the reports. That draw was followed by a thumping win over Wales.

Interestingly Declan Rice put forward that very argument. The midfielder buoyantly promised better, even talked about making a “statement” and assured everyone that England would be on the front foot and would press. “I think tomorrow is a great chance to go out there and prove some points,” he said.

So, it is not just about the three points but making a broader point. Obviously, a win, however it is achieved, is ultimately the main objective but Southgate and his players know that another poor display will mean the days up to a last-16 tie in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday will be deeply uncomfortable even if they top the group. And rightly so.

“I think what we’ve talked about is performance,” Southgate said. “We know that the results have put us in a strong position, but we want to play better as a team.”

Southgate contended that England need to “move away from the emotion” but that is difficult. It is also harder than ever to shut yourself away from it.

The England camp is, despite protestations from the manager that he does not follow the media during tournaments, actually aware of what has been said and that this negativity, however justified, can only be stopped by them. It is not rocket science.

In previous tournaments under Southgate England have succeeded in halting the downward momentum at just the right time and turning it in their favour and really need to do so here in Cologne on Tuesday evening against the Slovenians, who have two points and can themselves finish top or bottom of the group. Southgate named-checked their “much-coveted” forward Benjamin Sesko.

For England the solution is simple and keeps coming back to the same thing: Play better. No-one is hiding from that and while Harry Kane’s well-expressed riposte to the critics, especially those former players led by Lineker who said they were “s---” against the Danes as well as BBC colleague Alan Shearer, was interpreted in some quarters as the squad being thin-skinned that was unfair.

The issue is not that. It is the way in which some of that criticism was expressed, the language used and motivation behind it. There is also the fact that not only did those former players fail to win a tournament when they had the chance but, far more importantly, complained about the external pressure that they felt was placed on them and hampered them. Now they are applying that pressure more than anyone.

Also listen to what Kane and Rice and others are saying. They are not pretending England have played well but they are entitled to defend themselves even if they know that the best right of reply comes on the pitch.

“With the players, there’s always going to be a lot of emotion around tournament football,” Southgate explained. “But we know our performances have to be at a better level - and completely understand the reaction to that.”

The manager is aware that he is probably suffering from fatigue of the familiar from the fans. Southgate has been in charge for eight years and there is a well of opinion that he has had his chance and a change is needed. It is why he has not ducked discussing the likelihood that this will be his last tournament.

There are certainly legitimate questions over Southgate’s tactics and whether he sets his team up in the right way and is, now, able to get the best out of them and the talent pool available to him. Indeed have they actually out-grown him? Southgate can only deal with that by winning and, as importantly it feels, winning convincingly.

The accusation that he plays with the “handbrake on” has riled Southgate. Now is the moment to provide some serious evidence that is not the case.

The reaction will only become stronger if England fail to achieve that. There is certainly a renewed mood to ensure that does not happen. They have done it before, and pretty much at this same stage of a tournament under Southgate, and need to do it again.