Gareth Southgate didn't expect to be England's World Cup manager
- Published
Captain and manager - Harry Kane and Gareth Southgate will lead England out against Tunisia on Monday
Tunisia v England |
|---|
Date: Monday, 18 June (19:00 BST) Venue: Volgograd Arena, Volgograd |
Coverage: Watch the game live on BBC One, the BBC Sport website and app. Listen live on 5 live, with live text commentary online |
England manager Gareth Southgate admits he never wanted or expected to be on the World Cup journey to Russia - but he is now relishing the anticipation and excitement of Monday's opener against Tunisia.
Southgate was handed the England job full-time in November 2016 when Sam Allardyce left after just one game when he was caught in a newspaper sting.
Allardyce had only taken over 67 days earlier, after Roy Hodgson's resignation following the last-16 exit to Iceland in Euro 2016.
He guided England to Russia in an undefeated qualifying campaign and early qualms about how he got the job have been replaced by the excitement of guiding his country in Volgograd on Monday.
Southgate told BBC Sport: "It is a journey I didn't expect or want to be on.
"I was hoping that in the last Euros the team was going to do really well and Roy would still be there.
"When Sam Allardyce was appointed I was the under-21 coach and there to support him.
"I have said from the off I wasn't comfortable with the manner in which I took the reins but I have enjoyed the responsibility.
"I have enjoyed having the role and I think I was the best qualified person with the best experiences to take it at the time it came up."
"I'm not a tourist"
Southgate admits that while he will enjoy the unique pressure of the World Cup, he knows it is a serious business as England expects his team to deliver in Russia.
Gareth Southgate made his England debut in December 1996 and was in the squads for Euro 96 and 2000, and the World Cups of 1998 and 2002
"As the manager I'm hugely excited and hugely proud," added Southgate. "But I'm not a tourist. I'm not here just to enjoy it."
Southgate admitted he stood in front of the mirror in his full training kit when he won his first England call-up - but there will be no such indulgence in the final build-up to the match against Tunisia.
"I am enjoying it and I'm going to enjoy it but I'm here to develop the team and do my job for everyone at home.
"I can't just be puffing like a peacock in front of the mirror looking at the Three Lions."
Sleepless in Volgograd?
Shearer and Jenas select their England XI
Southgate was finalising England's preparations at their Zelenogorsk training base before they fly to the heat of Volgograd on Sunday - confident the planning will be done.
And despite this being the biggest game of his managerial career and England's most crucial since the fiasco of the 2-1 loss to Iceland in Nice that sent them crashing out in the last 16 at Euro 2016, Southgate is not expecting a sleepless night before the big day.
"I think everything in terms of preparation will be done.
"I think there is an importance for the players at this time that we don't overload them with information and normally the night before a game I sleep at my best because the preparations and the decisions I have to take are all done.
"You have some messages to give to the players but unfortunately for them it goes on their shoulders a little bit on match day so I generally sleep very well.
"Hopefully there will be somewhere to go for a run or get out and do some exercise.
"We might cover some set plays at some point during the day with the players but really we feel well planned and ready for the game."
Famous last words
Southgate's most famous sound bite came after the quarter-final loss to Brazil in Shizuoka, Japan, in the 2002 World Cup when he said that at half-time, under manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, England "needed Winston Churchill but got Iain Duncan-Smith".
He will have a final message for his players - but will weigh up their mood before delivering the last words they will hear before leaving the dressing room.
Southgate said: "I'm always waiting to see what the feel of the group is on the day. It won't be tactical because we will have covered that and they will be sick to death of hearing that.
"It is normally something that is to prepare them emotionally and psychologically for the game but a team is a living, breathing, moving animal and they are in a different psychological place from one hour to the next, so you really have to assess that."
He added: "You have an idea in your mind of the messages that will be key but the exact nature of it tends to come as I get closer to that moment of speaking to them."