Is the criticism unfair? Tomorrow night England face the Netherlands in the Euros semi-finals. Yet many insist that Gareth Southgate is not up to running the team.
Cheer up! He’s England’s best ever manager
Is the criticism unfair? Tomorrow night England face the Netherlands in the Euros semi-finals. Yet many insist that Gareth Southgate is not up to running the team.
Millions of England fans held their breath. Their team had scored four penalties in the shoot-out; Switzerland had missed one. If Trent Alexander-Arnold scored with his attempt, victory would be theirs. The Liverpool star took his run-up - and powered the ball into the top left-hand corner. YE-E-ES! GOAL! England were through to the semi-finals!
On the touchline, Gareth Southgate embraced his coaching team. He could hardly have asked for a better way to celebrate 100 games as England's manager.
Yet had England lost, his time in charge would probably have been over. Despite all his successes, he continues to face an army of detractors.
"People have every right to be critical. He has a group of very talented players playing well below their full potential as a team. They are badly set up and poorly coached," commented one Daily Mail reader after the Switzerland game.
"England in the semis is a good result but the way they've managed it is terrible," responded another. "Very little creativity and ambition and that is down to the over-cautious manager."
"Right now," writes Barney Ronay in The Guardian, "Southgate is arguably the most rage-inducing person in the country, the object of constant unchecked derisionRidicule or mockery. The word originates from the Latin deridere, meaning to scoff at. ." England, Ronay admits, have been dreadful at the Euros. Southgate's team selections have been a mess and the midfield is "comically unbalanced".
And yet, Ronay argues, Southgate is the most consistently successful manager England have ever had. In the major tournaments the team has competed in since he took over in 2016, it has reached two quarter-finals, one semi-final and a final.
Critics are right to say that Southgate is lucky in having such good players at his disposal. But Ronay points out that England have always had good players: the difference is that Southgate created "an environment in which they could flourish".
Writing in the i Paper, Daniel Storey agrees. Though Southgate's cautious tactics can be frustrating, "England's footballers believe in this manager, believe in their ability to drag themselves out of adversity and believe in the communal desire to keep calm when others might lose their heads."
The statistics support this: in the five most recent Euros matches where England have conceded the first goal, they have come back to win.1
And, says Dave Kidd in The Sun, critics should remember the shambles that Southgate inherited. England's manager at the 2016 Euros, Roy Hodgson, had resigned after a humiliating defeat by Iceland.
His successor, Sam Allardyce, lasted just one game before allegations of corruption ended his tenureThe holding of an office or position.. Fans were used to seeing England fail in major tournaments and lose penalty shoot-outs.
According to Kidd, "It did not take long for Southgate to restore sense, order and hope." He believes that history will remember the manager kindly: "Because over 100 matches, Southgate's positives have significantly outweighed the negatives. And he has not reached this milestone by chance."
Is the criticism unfair?
Yes: As England manager, Southgate has won 60 games and lost only 16 - a hugely impressive record. His ability to instil self-belief in his players more than makes up for his shortcomings.
No: England have made frustratingly heavy weather of the Euros. Southgate seldom picks the best team, is over-cautious in his tactics and makes substitutions much too late in the game.
Or... All football fans consider themselves experts, but they forget the enormous pressure Southgate is under. Only someone who has held an equally high-profile job is qualified to criticise him.
Derision - Ridicule or mockery. The word originates from the Latin deridere, meaning to scoff at.
Tenure - The holding of an office or position.
Cheer up! He’s England’s best ever manager

Glossary
Derision - Ridicule or mockery. The word originates from the Latin deridere, meaning to scoff at.
Tenure - The holding of an office or position.