Gareth Southgate was always conscious of not allowing his England squad to go stale by reaching, as he put it, “the end of a cycle”.
Southgate, who stepped down as England manager yesterday, blooded young players as soon as he felt they were ready and, in spite of his reputation for undue loyalty, was often prepared to be ruthless with older, established stars — most recently Jordan Henderson.
The result is a squad which should need minor tweaks, rather than major surgery, under Southgate’s successor when they begin planning for the 2026 World Cup and a home European Championship in 2028.
“The squad we took to Germany is full of exciting young talent and they can win the trophy we all dream of,” Southgate said in his leaving statement.
Half of England’s squad players at this summer’s Euros — 13 of the 26 — were at their first major tournament, and the average age of the group was just over 26.
By including Kobbie Mainoo, Adam Wharton, Anthony Gordon, Cole Palmer and Eberechi Eze, Southgate effectively kicked off a fresh cycle before stepping down, leaving his successor with a new group of youngsters who have either played in massive games already or experienced being part of a tournament squad.
Add in James Trafford, Jarrad Branthwaite, Jarell Quansah and Curtis Jones, who were cut from the provisional training squad, as well as a host of exciting youngsters in the development groups, and there should be no concerns about the next generation.
There are relatively few senior players to phase out, too. Full-backs Kyle Walker, 34, and Kieran Trippier, 33, are unlikely to be in contention in two years, but Lewis Dunk and Harry Kane were the only other over-30s in this summer’s Euros squad.
Some Southgate favourites, including Dunk, Harry Maguire and Conor Gallagher may find it harder to earn future call-ups under another manager, but discarded players, among them Ben White, Jack Grealish, James Maddison and Marcus Rashford, will all hope for recalls.
There are concerns for the new coach.England were short of depth at left-back this summer, while Mainoo’s emergence has eased the doubts about the midfield, but it is still unclear if the teenager and Declan Rice offer the right blend of protection and guile.
Doubts about Kane’s future feel overblown; he was plainly unfit in Germany, but it is hard to imagine anyone else leading the line in two years’ time.
While Southgate leaves the squad in fine shape, it was telling that he yesterday urged the country to keep supporting the players. “I hope we get behind the players and understand the power football has to drive positive change,” he said.
Before the defeat to Spain, Southgate admitted “there was a danger” his work in making international football a positive experience for the players could be undone in Germany, and there were some signs of a fraying of the relationships with supporters and the media.
Southgate was booed and pelted with plastic cups by fans after the 0-0 draw with Slovenia, while the squad was hurt by Gary Lineker’s criticism of their sluggish progress. After the win over Slovakia, Jude Bellingham, who is sceptical of the media, hit back at what he described as a “pile-on”.
You wonder if Southgate fears that, without him, England’s players could return to the defensive, us-against-them mentality which characterised the set-up before he took over, and ensuring the culture remains open and upbeat will be a large part of his successor’s remit.
So much of Southgate’s legacy naturally depends on the identity of his successor, who will have their own ideas about personnel, culture and tactics.
Newcastle’s Eddie Howe and former Chelsea boss Graham Potter are both strong candidates, who would feel like smart and relatively uncontroversial picks, albeit less glamorous than Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel and, certainly, Jurgen Klopp.
An intriguing choice would be Under-21s boss Lee Carsley. Southgate himself was promoted from the U-21s after Sam Allardyce’s sacking, initially as an interim, and if England need a caretaker for September’s Nations League games — as FA chief executive Mark Bullingham has suggested they might — it would surely be Carsley.
The 50-year-old former Ireland midfielder has a record of playing exactly the kind of football England supporters demanded from Southgate.
His youngsters won last summer’s European Championship, beating Spain in the final, playing a stylish brand of passing football in which players were largely freed from positional constraints. Gordon, who is nominally a winger, played as a No9, and attacking midfielders Jones and Angel Gomes anchored the central areas.
Appointing a coach who knows the culture, set-up and DNA of the national organisation has worked wonders for European champions Spain and Argentina, the world and Copa America champions.
Carsley, though, does not have Southgate’s history as an England international, nor experience of such a big job and would probably prove an enormously underwhelming appointment with supporters and the country at large.
In short, while no one doubts the quality of England’s talent pool, it will be a challenge to find a coach tactically astute enough to take England up a level, but steely enough to handle the noise and pressure which comes with the job.
