It doesn’t make sense, sure.It looks appalling, indeed.It would be a one-way ticket to home for England and the end of the road for him as the Three Lions’ manager as well if it wasn’t for Jude Bellingham’s last-gasp beauty of equalizer.However, despite all these facts and the impression that England have had a truly disappointing, below-par tournament so far, Gareth Southgate is still alive and kicking in the dugout and is – his team’s most successful boss by a mile.EURO 2024: The Three Lions are not cats, but they have nine lives!Stats don’t lie, do they? They also show that despite his team’s woeful performances in the ongoing European Championship, Southgate took England to a whole new level in those major tournaments upon his arrival back in 2016.Apart from the 1966 FIFA World Cup – which they won on home soil led by legendary tactician Sir Alf Ramsey – the Three Lions have had many hiccups and failures. This happened to them, especially in those knockout stages, which were quite heartbreaking for the fans in the decades prior to Southgate’s appointment.Check this out: from 1968 until 2016, England recorded only six knockout wins in Euros and World Cups; from 2018 (World Cup in Russia, Southgate’s first major tournament as the boss) up until now (including the Slovakia tie), they’ve collected seven!Basically, it took him only six years to achieve more than all the previous 12 permanent managers England had had in those 48 years!England had recorded 6 knockout wins from 1968 to 2016. It’s now 7 knockout wins in 4 tournaments. The growth of this team under Gareth Southgate has been immense. England fans have never had it so good. Drink it in, man.#ENGvSLO pic.twitter.com/eToeHvKcZ1— TopTrevor (@TopTrevor) June 30, 2024 And he’s apparently eager to make a sort of a bond, connection with that golden ’66 generation, too.He showed players a presentation about ’66 and how Sir Geoff Hurst didn’t start the tournament but finished it in style. Southgate made the point of team evolving, and all of the players who came on against Slovakia – Toney, Palmer, Eze, Gallagher and Konsa – showed they were ready to make an impact.Still, it won’t save Southgate from public slaughter if his side fails to produce a much better display against Switzerland in the 1/4 finals.##NAJAVA_MECA_8190705##Just two wins (Serbia and Slovakia) in four games (draws against Slovenia and Denmark) and a whole lot of worries concerning his team’s display bother the gaffer, whose side was labelled as the favourite to win the title. EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – 1/8 FINALSSaturdaySwitzerland – Italy 2-0 (1-0)/Freuler 37, Vargas 46/Germany – Denmark 2-0 (0-0)/Havertz 53 pen, Musiala 68/SundayEngland – Slovakia 2-1 (0-1) AET/Bellingham 90+5, Kane 91 – Schranz 25/Spain – Georgia 4-1 (1-1)/Rodri 39, Ruiz 51, Williams 75, Olmo 83 – Le Normand 18 og/Monday19.00: (1.95) France (3.40) Belgium (4.70)22.00: (1.43) Portugal (4.75) Slovenia (9.10)Tuesday19.00: (8.25) Romania (4.30) Netherlands (1.50)22.00: (1.95) Austria (3.50) Turkey (4.50)***odds are subject to change***
