England fans want Gareth Southgate fired into the nonexistent UK sun after Euros loss
By Scott Rogust
England has been on a seemingly never-ending quest to hoist the World Cup again for the first time since 1966. While they are two years away from reaching the 60-year anniversary, the England men's national team had the opportunity to bring home a different championship -- the UEFA European Championship, one that they have never held.
On Sunday, England had the opportunity to win the 2024 Euros. The team standing in their way were Spain. Despite trailing 1-0 early in the second half, England responded in the 72nd minute on a goal from Cole Palmer. With that, they had a chance to go to extras at minimum.
Yet, Spain took a late 2-1 lead in the 86th minute on a goal from Mikel Oyarzabal. With that, Spain took home their fourth European Championship, a record.
As for England fans, they directed their disappointment toward manager Gareth Southgate. Throughout the tournament, English fans were critical of Southgate for his managerial style, feeling that England made it as far as they did in spite of him, not because of him.
Of course, that led to English fans taking to X (or Twitter) to call for Southgate to be fired.
England fans call for Gareth Southgate's job after Euros loss to Spain
Gareth Southgate was a C grade talent in charge of an A grade squad.
— Danny Baker (@prodnose) July 14, 2024
A better manager would have taken England further, no matter what stats you show.
A boring bloke. A boring team
No idea why BBC are going out of their way to credit Southgate. England reached the final in spite of him, not because of him.
— Sam McGuire (@SamMcGuire90) July 14, 2024
Southgate with another tournament where the pundits will say he’s done a good job but there isn’t a single victory or performance of note that’s above the bare minimum for this level of talent. Get rid. Move on.
— JB™️ (@gunnerpunner) July 14, 2024
Southgate truly is a specialist in failure.
— Richard Lewis (@RLewisReports) July 14, 2024
Southgate's luck had to run out at some point. Seems to always happen against the good teams. Weird that.
— Doc (@Doc_Joshi) July 14, 2024
Good thing Southgate sacrificed England’s most creative player for that added defensive solidity at RB
— Carson (@WC_LFC_Torres) July 14, 2024
Cole Palmer being benched all tournament is a disgrace btw. Best player on the pitch every time he plays. Sack Southgate immediately
— Conn (@ConnCFC) July 14, 2024
Southgate originally served as the manager for the under-21 England national team from 2013 until receiving a promotion to lead the men's national team in 2016 after Sam Allardyce resigned from the role.
In the 2018 World Cup, Southgate led England to the semi-finals, where they lost 4-2 to Croatia. Southgate took England to the semi-finals in the 2019 UEFA Nations League, losing 3-1 to Netherlands, but clinched third place with a win over Switzerland in penalties. In the 2022 World Cup, England won their group, but was eliminated by the France, the runner-ups of the tournament, in the quarter-finals.
Back in 2020, England made it to the UEFA Euro Final, but fell short to Italy, losing in a shootout. With that, and 2024, Southgate is now the first manager to lose two finals in the history of the Euros. To make matters worse, it happened in back-to-back tournaments.
While fans are calling for Southgate's job, it's unknown what England's plans are for the men's national league. What is known is that the 2026 World Cup is two years away. But taking into account that England has yet to hoist a trophy for 58 years now, fans will no doubt continue to put the pressure on Southgate to succeed. If not, the calls for his job will only get louder.
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