“I am fortunate that I am the type of guy who you have to prod a lot to get a bark,” Gareth Southgate says on a humid, wet afternoon in Blankenhain. As thoughtful, measured and interesting as ever, England’s manager explains that his calmness is inherited from his father. “He always managed his emotions really well,” Southgate says. “He also had a coach’s mentality – he was always looking after other people. I think we all grow up looking at those figures in our lives.”
For much of the past eight years it has felt as if a fractured country has looked to one mild-mannered middle-aged man for guidance on how to be.
It happens less these days but there was a time when Southgate, who can make history by guiding England to victory over Spain in Sunday’s Euro 2024 final, would be asked to pronounce on any number of issues that had nothing to do with football. He became more than a mere football manager; some saw him as a symbol of centrism and hailed his inherent decency, while others derided his woke tendencies and supposed left-wing leanings.
It must be a strange experience but Southgate does not regret talking politics and discrimination. “This is a position of responsibility,” he says. “You have a chance to make a difference in things that are important. I have my values. I never wanted to impose my values on people. But I think there are some fundamental human values that, if you get the chance to model them, you should.
“If I’ve helped some kids, some adults, who feel they are living through criticism these last few weeks … there’s a way of trying to come through that. Things can change so quickly. For them it won’t be two football matches that make the difference. But hopefully they can find a way through whatever difficulties they might be having.
“We live in what’s been an angry country. I would love that to be different as we move forward. Hopefully we can bring some temporary happiness. But we’re not going to change our country either. Maybe we can deliver some good examples.”
That anger has been aimed at Southgate during these Euros. Television pundits ripped into his tactics after England began in underwhelming fashion. The Southgate haters had a field day. Then, when England drew 0-0 with Slovenia in their final group game, some fans abused Southgate and threw empty beer cups at him.
He could have been forgiven for wondering whether all his work on changing the culture and removing the fear factor around the national team was about to unravel. “There was a danger but I was determined to confront it,” Southgate says. “When the beer came over I was going to go and walk towards it because we fought too hard to change the environment for the players.
“I felt it important to fight for that in that moment. I was the only one who was going to be able to do that. I have no problem if I’m the lightning conductor – to take that for the players. In the end that’s the job. The job is to allow them to perform at their best.”
England have grown into the tournament since Jude Bellingham’s stunning equaliser against Slovakia in the last 16. They are in their first overseas final after beating Switzerland on penalties and knocking out the Netherlands when Ollie Watkins came off the bench to score in the last minute.
“We weren’t playing at the level we wanted to,” Southgate says of the performances in the group stage. “That was a coaching challenge. How do we fix what we’re doing? That wasn’t necessarily on the training ground.” It came back to mentality. There were “open, honest conversations” between players and staff. Southgate told the team he did not want to see a repeat of the negative body language after the 1-1 draw with Denmark. “In the end, most problems are resolvable,” he says. “I’m fortunate I’ve got such good staff.”
Southgate, who expects Kieran Trippier to be fit after going off with a groin problem against the Netherlands, says there are no big lessons to take from losing the Euro 2020 final to Italy on penalties. He takes confidence from his body of work since being appointed in 2016. He got back to the team hotel in the early hours of Thursday and was “up by eight or nine looking at Spain”.
The occasion is likely to define the 53-year-old. “It will,” he says. “But in the eyes of others. Age and experience has made me more comfortable with who I am. I completely understand that in the end winning and what that means completely changes how you’re viewed.
“But there are bits you can affect, others you are not going to. I would probably have felt differently about that three years ago, five years ago, but I’m in a different space now and that’s a good thing because otherwise I’d have been in a mess these last five weeks.
“I would have taken more notice of how others viewed me, and not had the confidence of years of being in the game, seeing the evidence of the work, the togetherness of the group we’ve got with us. Just being able to rationalise things better.”
That stillness disappeared after England’s 2-1 win over the Netherlands on Wednesday night. Derided and belittled, Southgate let it all out when he celebrated with the fans in Dortmund. “I’m an England fan in the dugout,” he says. “I have more responsibility now, but I’m desperate for England to win and I was the same as a player.
“I know sometimes because I’m not like that on the sideline, people might view that differently but my job on the sideline is to make good decisions, not to be a cheerleader. I didn’t see Terry Venables work that way. I’ve got to be in a clear headspace, I’ve got to know myself well enough to know: ‘OK, this is how I have to operate and this is me.’ And I’m less worried now if people like that, or people don’t like that.
“Carlo Ancelotti is different to others, but that’s my way, that’s how I have to be and I’m not going to change because I think people would see straight through that. Players would see straight through that but they know I like to win.”
England did not do much winning before Southgate took over from Sam Allardyce, three months after the nadir of losing to Iceland at Euro 2016. “I think we’ve changed how English football is perceived around the world,” he says. “There’s still some questions to answer on that until we win. In the end people will still question that final bit and I understand that.
“But to have the consistency of finishes we have is important for English football because I think everybody working in academies, with kids, with senior players, it’s in these moments you realise how much that means to them.
“They travel, they get comments about English football, it’s how they feel – that they’re on the right path with developing players and inspiring young coaches. All of those things matter. But of course for Sunday none of them matter as much as winning the game.”
Once again, it is hard not to be struck by Southgate’s emotional intelligence. But he is only human. The butterflies in his stomach are fluttering before facing Spain.
“There’s a little bit of nerves because, if not, what would that mean?” Southgate says. “The physiology of that is that your body prepares itself for battle. I’m exactly the same as anybody. I guess the difference now is I know how to manage that.
“Over the last six or seven years, we’ve managed a lot of big games, so you realise this is the same as lots of other things you’ve been through. You’ve got evidence of what’s worked.”
This is England’s leader. This is the inspiring figure that the players will look up to on Sunday evening. This could be the end for Southgate but it is obvious why the Football Association will try to convince him to stay.
“I want to win so much on Sunday it hurts,” Southgate says. “But I can handle whatever comes out of it. I know it’s not going to change what the dog thinks when I walk back in the door.”
