Southgate is an organisational revolutionary.
He’s mild-mannered and thorough and a good listener.
A bold leader, he has reached into the future and yanked the 2020 England team into the present summer and tried it out.
Last week he lost 3-1 to the Netherlands in Portugal and on Sunday he beat Switzerland for third place by winning a penalty shoot-out, as he did against Colombia in Russia last summer.
A formidable organiser, a father figure as well as a politician, Southgate is the front man for the Football Association and the manager of a much-improved England team.
The FA have at last created a national training base with full-time staff at St. George’s Park, where players are studied and improved, and where the 21s can supply a few lads to a senior training session when injured stars are having treatment.
After finishing fourth in the 2018 World Cup, Southgate became even more ambitious and started talking about making England the No.1 team in the world.
Against the Netherlands, he decided not to pick any Liverpool or Spurs players from the Champions League Final because they were tired and emotional and had joined up late.
At such moments, he looks too policy-driven.
Ronald Koeman selected two Liverpool players. Virgil van Dijk and Wijnaldum and both played well.
This was his X1:
Pickford / Walker Stones Maguire Chilwell/ Delph Rice Barkley/ Sterling Rashford Sancho
I thought Trent Alexander-Arnold should have started. He’s 19 and buzzing and not tired. If Wijnaldum and van Dijk can start, why can’t Trent and Henderson start?
When I saw our midfield, I was so annoyed that I backed the Netherlands.
If England had won, I’d have been ecstatic and not cared about the bet.
John Stones and Kyle Walker played stupidly, and Declan Rice, the gifted new boy, hardly got a kick.
The best pundit comment was from Gary Neville, who said we didn’t look glued together.
Exactly !!!! But I knew that would happen.
Last night Portugal, the 2016 European champions, beat the Netherlands 1-0 to win the Nations League trophy.
But I didn’t watch the game.