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Gareth Southgate hits out at English ‘entitlement’ that ‘annoys our opponents’ at Euro 2024
England manager shoots down notion that his team have great opportunity to progress on weaker side of the draw
Gareth Southgate has reacted strongly over suggestions England have an easy draw at the European Championship, branding it as “entitlement” that has historically annoyed other countries.
England avoided Spain, Germany, France and Portugal and will face Turkey or the Netherlands if they defeat Switzerland in the quarter-finals. But when asked if he has told his players that “these opportunities may not come around again”, Southgate insisted such a mindset has been the downfall of other Three Lions teams.
“I would say that is the classic example of the sort of entitlement we have as a nation that creates drama and annoys our opponents,” he said. “We are playing a really strong football nation who have played exceptionally well, are well prepared and have enormous pride. Our focus is on how we win this game.
“We’ve never been to a final outside England, we’ve only had two finals in our history, three semi-finals, so there are lots of nations who we as English people might perceive as smaller who have had far better records than us in terms of winning things and reaching finals. It is half the problem we have.”
Meanwhile, Southgate insisted he would offer no words of advice to Sir Keir Starmer after he was elected as Prime Minister.
“I’m not envious of his job! I don’t have any advice,” he said. “When you are in a position of responsibility, which I am, you realise people always have advice come from every direction and people have a simple solution to complex problems, so I’m sure he has been inundated with that.
“Having been in the role I have, one thing I wouldn’t do is offer additional issues for him by speaking publicly. I wish him well. We want a strong country and the best possible conditions in the UK and whatever government is in charge, that is what we all desire.”