by Royal Rother »
23 Jul 2024 15:11
BRO_BOT Snowflake Royal BRO_BOT
It also depends on how you assess them.
If they meet a high-ranked team early on in the knockout stage of a competition and get beaten, can you say they have performed worse?
They might not be as lucky as GS when it comes to the draw.
When you win your group, you're making your own luck. It means you either get easier teams in the earlier knockout stages or a bigger team not in good form. Which Southgate did 3 times out of 4.
Spain won their group and had to play France and Germany (hosts). So you can win your group and then get a tough run.
Just trying to think of a way of assessing the next England manager that is fair. Tournament progression can be down to the luck of the draw
It'll always be subjective based on our own individual outlook to football.
As Ian says, Southgate's "3 times out of 4" record will be hard to better (I'd take 1 tournament win though) - trouble for me was that there were very few moments / spells in the 16 or so games involved in those runs that I found enjoyable.
I just want to enjoy watching England, and have good reason to look forward to the next game with a bit of excitement about what I am going to see. For me that would be progression.