I don’t miss managing England – Southgate

Sir Gareth Southgate, the ex-england manager, claims he enjoys playing for the Three Lions and carrying the “weight” of the job.

After his country lost to Spain in the Euro 2024 final, the 54-year-old stepped down as England manager last summer.

During his seven-and-a-half years in charge, Southgate won two European Championship titles, both of which came in runners-up.

England’s best performance at a major tournament since 1990 was the team’s fourth-placed finish at the 2018 World Cup.

The former Middlesbrough manager, who was awarded a knighthood on Wednesday for his contributions to English football, claims he misses being in charge of the team.

Watching the team is a little strange, but I’m not missing it, Southgate said.

After Sir Walter Winterbottom, Sir Alf Ramsey, and Sir Bobby Robson, Southgate became the fourth England manager in history to receive the knighthood.

When asked if he had missed some of the tasks, Southgate said it was relief that he had lost the desire to serve a nation.

“I think it’s hard to describe because until that weight has gone, you know, every hour of my day was thinking about how to improve England, what’s happening with the players, and how to do things differently,” he continued.

You’re constantly thinking about how to do your job as well as you can, in my opinion, any leader of large organizations.”

Following Lee Carsley’s interim tenure as manager, Thomas Tuchel was appointed.

At the helm, the German has won three of his World Cup qualifiers, but England were booed off after a friendly loss to Senegal at City Ground earlier this month.

After taking over the starting role, Tuchel claimed Southgate’s side lacked a clear identity and “were more afraid to drop out” of Euro 2024 than having the fervor and determination to win it.

According to Southgate, “I don’t think it’s important how I handled it (Tuchel’s criticism) or what I think” is.

“I believe that allowing the manager and the team the space to operate is what’s really important.” That is the right course of action, in my opinion.