England manager Gareth Southgate has admitted he was ready to give up managing England following their World Cup elimination by France. The "3 Lions" were eliminated in the quarterfinals of Qatar, disappointing their fans once again. However, Southgate decided to stay in charge of the national team, and apparently, the technician has thought for a long time to reach this conclusion. In a recent interview for BBC Sport, he said:
"I never wanted to be in a position where my presence negatively affects the team. I didn't think it was happening, but I needed a period of reflection after the World Cup to reflect and make sure how I felt. I asked myself, is it the right thing to continue this project? I wanted to make sure I'm still hungry for this challenge.”
Southgate has described the role of England coach as the greatest privilege of his life. Despite the fact that the technician thought about leaving the management of the national team, Gareth finally said that the decision to stay at the head of the bench was not difficult to take, considering the quality of the team and the progress made. The Englishman added:
"The team is still improving. We're all gaining confidence in what we're doing."
The technician's only concern about his task was that the narrative of the sports media would negatively affect the group of players. But apparently England has already closed this chapter and the players are focused on the future.
Southgate said that his team is definitely competitive against all the other teams in the world. The technician also said that he is quite confident about the chances of the "3 Lions" in next year's European Championship in Germany.
