ALAN PARDEW claims Sir Gareth Southgate has been physically affected by the stress and strains of managing England.
And he reckons German chief – whom he never wanted to replace – has a harder job this summer than Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Gareth Southgate has been ‘affected’ by the stress of the England job, claims Alan Pardew Credit: Alamy
Pardew says Southgate has a ‘blinking and twitching’ after the role ‘left a mark’ on him Credit: Getty
Southgate, 55, was boss for 102 matches during an eight-year period, until he stood down after the competition.
And he is the country’s best manager after 1966 World Cup winner Sir Alf Ramsey, having guided the Three Lions to two European Championship finals and the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
However, according to his former teammate , his face changed while he was in the hot seat and there is an obvious “mark” of the pressure he faced.
Pardew, 64, said on talkSPORT: “I saw Gareth the other day and obviously I know him.
“I played with Gareth. He’s a good friend of mine. But he’s been affected by that England job. There’s no doubt about that.
“He has kind of like a blinking and a twitching that he never used to have, quite as profound.
“It’s the pressure of that job. It can leave a mark on you and Gareth handled it so, so well.
“But of course it’s left a mark on him because it’s such, such pressure.
Southgate's highs and lows as England boss
GARETH Southgate took charge of 102 games for England before quitting in the aftermath of the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain.
But what were the best – and worst matches – from the popular gaffer’s eight-year reign before that devastating Sunday night in Berlin? Here we take a look.
THE HIGHS:
Colombia 1-1 England (3-4 on pens,) 2018 World Cup
This was the night that long-suffering supporters finally started to believe that it was coming home.
Despite conceding a late equaliser, England held their nerve to advance to the quarter final of the World Cup 2018 on penalties.
It was our first shootout victory for 22 years.
Spain 2-3 England, 2018 Nations League
Following on from the World Cup, England won in Spain for the first time in 31 years with a brilliant Uefa victory.
Southgate’s boys stunned the Seville crowd into silence with a thrilling performance that saw thanks to a brace and .
Although the hosts scored two after the break, the way the Three Lions tore La Roja apart excited every fan.
England 2-1 Denmark, Euro 2020 semi-final
Southgate led England to their first major final in 55 years as they beat after extra-time in the Euro 2020 semi-final.
Having fallen behind after half an hour, the Three Lions battled back to send it to extra-time courtesy of an own goal.
Then it was captain Kane who converted a rebound after originally saved his penalty in extra-time to win it.
England 3-0 Sengal, 2022 World Cup last 16
England had already blown Iran and Wales, 6-2 and 3-0 respectively, away in the group stages before they breezed past Senegal.
The free-scoring Three Lions recorded another big win to set-up a mouthwatering quarter-final against France – what could go wrong?
Italy 1-2 England, Euro qualifiers, 2023
On a night when became England’s all-time top scorer, the Three Lions recorded a first away win over Italy since 1961.
It was the first game since their 2022 World Cup exit, and it ensured a perfect start to their Euro 2022 qualifying campaign.
England 2-1 Holland, Euro 2024 sem-final
The nation doubted Southgate’s men in the semis of , but they responded with a barnstorming display.
Xavi Simons opened the scoring for the Dutch but Harry Kane’s penalty drew us level.
And slotted in a brilliant winner in injury time to see the Three Lions into their
AND THE LOWS….
Croatia 2-1 England, World Cup semi-final, 2018
Having led England to a first World Cup semi-final since 1990, Southgate men made a dream start as put them ahead in the early exchanges.
But equalised as the Croats began to take control.
Some of Southgate’s substitutions were then questioned after his team were beaten in extra-time, although many gave him the benefit of the doubt as he returned a hero.
Italy 1-1 England (3-2 pens) Euro 2020 final
Will probably never get a better chance to have secured a trophy for the Three Lions than this final of the last European Championship.
gave us the lead after just seconds, but just like against Croatia three years earlier, we sat back and let our rivals back into it.
duly equalised in the second half and the game eventually went to penalties.
The unfortunate , and were all brought on to take a spot-kick, but the brave trio all missed as the Azzurri broke our hearts to take the prize.
England 0-4 Hungary, Nations League 2023
A year on from the Euros and it was utter embarrassment for Southgate in this Nations League game at Molineux.
It was our biggest home defeat since 1928 and the result led to England being relegated from the top group of the Nations League and back to one that contained the Republic of Ireland, Finland and Greece.
England 1-2 France, World Cup 2022 quarter-finals
Another case of what could have been.
Having been free-scoring throughout Qatar 2022, many fancied us to go all the way at the World Cup despite taking on the holders in the quarters.
We fought back from going behind to level through Kane and many believe that France were then there for the taking had Southgate deployed a more attacking approach.
Instead, they seemed content with what they had until pounced 12 minutes from time to win it.
But there was still one more twist of the knife for England as the usually-reliable Kane skied a late penalty over the bar uncharacteristically as we crashed out.
“You can’t imagine, in this World Cup period. Keir Starmer has got a difficult job as Prime Minister of this country.
“But he’s not under the same scrutiny and pressure that you are as World Cup manager in this particular period. So Keir have a day off, relax, you ain’t got the hardest job.”
Pardew – who managed , Charlton, Southampton, Newcastle and Crystal Palace – never wanted a foreigner to take over the top job in English football.
In his opinion, it should have gone to one of the few home-grown bosses in the .
And he could never quite work out why extended Tuchel’s contract beyond this World Cup to the Euros in 2028, which are being staged in Britain.
The South Londoner said: “I still can’t quite work out why they hired him for this World Cup.
Southgate suffered some agonising near misses after guiding England to two finals Credit: PA
Pardew can’t understand why Thomas Tuchel’s England deal was renewed before Euro 2028 Credit: PA
“They said, we’re going to hire him and his job is to win us the World Cup and then his contract ended.
“And then they renewed it. They extended. I didn’t get that at all. It didn’t make any sense.
“Well, I personally don’t think we needed to get a German manager in to win the World Cup.
“We’ve got plenty of English managers here who could have won the World Cup with this group.
“We’re not favourites and Thomas made that point and any English coach going in there knows we’re not favourites.
“Spain and look above us, maybe, Argentina, too. If you rewind the clock – that’s why I always wanted Brian Clough to be England manager.
“Because I think he would have actually gone into a tournament saying ‘we’ll win’ without hesitation.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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