Former England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed he is not doing any commentary or expert work at the ongoing football World Cup. Why?
The former England manager believes that if he does that, it may not help the English football team, which will kick off its World Cup campaign against Croatia on Wednesday night. Basically, Southgate believes that if he does his punditry work, he might say something that might be misconstrued. Manager Thomas Tuchel and captain Harry Kane, in their press conferences, might have to deal with the Southgate observations. The journalists might end up haranguing them using Southgate’s quotes, and that may derail the team from its target of winning the World Cup — it may be noted that they have not won any major football trophy since 1966. How thoughtful on Southgate’s part, one has to say.
"Hi, everybody. Now the World Cup's underway, and we stood a few days away from England playing. I thought it'd be a good point just to leave a little message. So, so obviously a very different tournament for me, this one. I've been to the last seven World Cups, as a player, as a broadcaster, as a scout, and then as the manager. So, uh, this time, I took a conscious decision not to do the TV. Didn't think it would be helpful for me to be talking about the team, and I don't want anything to be misconstrued or thrown at them in press conferences.
{{/usCountry}}"Hi, everybody. Now the World Cup's underway, and we stood a few days away from England playing. I thought it'd be a good point just to leave a little message. So, so obviously a very different tournament for me, this one. I've been to the last seven World Cups, as a player, as a broadcaster, as a scout, and then as the manager. So, uh, this time, I took a conscious decision not to do the TV. Didn't think it would be helpful for me to be talking about the team, and I don't want anything to be misconstrued or thrown at them in press conferences.
{{/usCountry}}“So, um, best for me to keep out of the way. But, yeah, I just wanted to take a moment to say, good luck to all the boys. All the big knockout nights that we've had mean they're gonna be full of confidence going into this tournament. They've overcome so many hurdles to winning, penalty shootouts, and semi-finals. Got so close, and they're ready to win, so I'm looking forward to watching. Get behind the boys, I know how important your support is to them. And I hope everybody has a great month, and I'll be staying out of the way,” Southgate said in a video on Instagram.
Southgate's time with England
55-year-old Southgate was the manager of the English team when they reached the finals of the Euros in 2024 and 2021. He also led the team to the semifinals in the 2018 edition in Russia. After overseeing the team for 102 matches, the former England midfielder and defender resigned from his role after the Three Lions' loss to Spain in the 2024 Euro final.