When the Gareth Southgate interview from L’Équipe bounced back to England on 14 May, it prompted a few phone calls between newspaper desks and their reporters. The England manager, preparing for Euro 2024 and under contract with the Football Association until December, had been asked the obligatory, inevitable question. Would this summer be his last shot at tournament glory with the team? Now we picked over his answer. Was there anything new in it?
The first thing to say was that even though it was most assuredly Southgate – speaking at the FA’s international media day – it did not sound completely like him. “If we don’t win, there is indeed a good chance that I won’t stay in office.” It was just the turn of phrase. Then again, here we had an Englishman speaking in English, being translated into French and back again into English.
