Not leaving England until at least 2022, claims Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate has confirmed that he is committed to England and will not leave until his contract ends in 2022. The former Middlesbrough manager has changed the way the English have performed since he took over leading them to a World Cup semi-final their best finish since Italia 90.
Reports have recently claimed that Tottenham and even Manchester United were eyeing moves for Gareth Southgate given their woeful performances in the season so far. Both clubs have struggled to get off to a good start this season, with Manchester United sitting 12 and Tottenham have failed to win a game away from home since January. This has seen both Mauricio Pochettino and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer put under immense pressure but Southgate has claimed he won’t be leaving England.
The 49-year-old has been out of club management for nearly ten years after leaving Middlesbrough just before the turn of the decade and joining England a year later. He started as a youth manager before taking over the U21s and then replaced Sam Allardyce as the caretaker manager before taking over permanently. Since then, the English have played a brand of football that has won over fans but also seen the players perform well.
So well, that they reached their first World Cup semi-final since the 1990 edition, eventually finishing in fourth place, which won Southgate accolades from all quarters. That has also seen him linked with a move away but in an interview, the Englishman went on to confirm that he would not be leaving England.
"You go to bed Saturday night and you wake up Sunday morning and the agenda's set. Look, I've said in the summer, I'm not somebody that needs to hedge my bets and needs to play cleverly and say, 'I'll keep this door open, that door open.' I'm the England manager and it's a massive privilege to do the job. There's a lot of work to do here with the team. We think the team can continue to improve, and until I'm told otherwise, 2022 is my contract, and that's it,” he told Sky Sports.
Southgate also went on to talk about Manchester City starlet Phil Foden with the 19-year-old struggling to get first-team football for the Cityzens. This has seen Pep Guardiola apologize to the young midfielder and admitting that he should be playing more while adding that Foden was the best youngster he had ever seen. But with 102 minutes so far this season, it has seen him overlooked for Southgate's latest England squad with Declan Rice, Mason Mount, Jadon Sancho and even Fikayo Tomori getting a chance to shine.
"Phil is still physically developing and I know Pep recognises the quality of the player, but equally the quality of the opposition around him. So I'm sure in the coming months that game time will increase as the number of matches racks up. I think you should always assess those things halfway through the season and towards the end of the season to see how much football they've got, and then I'm sure they'll make a decision on what's right for him as a player," the England boss added.
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