Gary Lineker has taken to Twitter to defend Gareth Southgate, after England lost 4-0 to Hungary in the UEFA Nations League clash at Molineux.
What’s the story?
Well, the Three Lions suffered their heaviest home defeat since a 5-1 loss to Scotland in 1928 on Tuesday, as the Hungarians ran riot in the Midlands.
Following that result, Southgate has come in for fierce criticism from all angles, but Lineker believes he remains the right man for the job going into the World Cup this November.
The BBC Match of the Day host wrote: “He’s done a great job. The only thing that really matters is the major tournaments and thus far he’s done better than anyone in charge of England for 56 years.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Yes, Southgate doesn’t necessarily have a glittering managerial CV, nor does he ensure this England side plays particularly exciting football from an attacking sense.
However, a major international tournament is extremely difficult to navigate through, with the hopes and dreams of an entire nation to deal with.
In that respect, Southgate deserves huge credit for guiding the Three Lions to a World Cup semi-final, as well as the final of EURO 2020.
Despite the disappointing results of both games, it is obvious that the players respect the 51-year-old, and buy into his tactics at these major tournaments.
UEFA Nations League games causing unnecessary World Cup fear
In our view, a mountain has been made out of a molehill after the 4-0 loss to Hungary.
After a gruelling campaign, these pointless games shouldn’t even be taking place, especially as pre-season is shorter this summer due to the World Cup in November.
Therefore, nobody should be reading too much into the results of these games, and they especially shouldn’t be calling for Southgate to lose his job because of them.
Had they been scrapped, optimism around England would’ve remained high, but now, unnecessary drama has been created by panicked supporters and media outlets.
If everyone remains calm and gets behind the Three Lions, we could taste success in Qatar this November.
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