by Gareth Southgate will take time to reflect on his future as the England manager faces conflicting thoughts after what he admits has been an often difficult 18 months in charge.
Harry Kane scored a penalty and missed another against defending champions France on Saturday night as their World Cup dreams ended in a 2-1 quarter-final defeat in Qatar.
England’s wait to emulate Sir Alf Ramsey’s heroes of 1966 continues as attention turns to Southgate as he processes last eight defeat following European Championship final loss last summer against Italy.
The 52-year-old has a contract until the next Euros in 2024 but wants to make sure he has the energy to go again and that the decision is right for the team.
“When I got through the last few tournaments, my emotions were hard to really reflect properly in the weeks that followed,” Southgate said.
“It took so much energy from you and you have so many things going through your mind.
Southgate needs time to consider their next move
“I want to make the right decision either way because it has to be the right one to go back or the right one not to go back and I don’t think tonight is the time to make a decision like that.
“The next few days either.”
Telling him the future looks bright for England, he added: “Yeah, listen, I’ve found a lot of the last 18 months difficult.
“For everything I’ve loved for the past few weeks, I still have how things have been for 18 months.
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The England squad return to Birmingham following their World Cup quarter-final loss to France.
“What was said and what was written, the night of the wolves.
“There’s a lot of things in my head that are really conflicted right now, so what I want to make sure, if that’s the right thing to say, is that I definitely have the energy for the TO DO.
“I don’t want to spend four or five months thinking I made the wrong choice. It’s too important for everyone to be wrong.”
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Kaveh Solhekol and Rob Dorsett had conflicting opinions on England’s training and performance following the World Cup loss to France.
Southgate was widely criticized during England’s six-game winless run leading to Qatar which led to relegation from the Nations League top tier.
Molineux’s 4-0 loss to Hungary in June was the lowest point and some fans turned on the England boss, just as they did after September’s 1-0 loss to Italy In Milan.
England will return to Italy to kick off European Championship qualifying in just 14 weeks and Southgate will speak to the Football Association before then to discuss “things logically”.
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Jamie Redknapp would have no problem if Gareth Southgate decides to stay on as England boss, despite their World Cup quarter-final exit against France.
The former defender went through the same process after runs to the World Cup semi-finals four years ago and the Euro final last summer – a penalty shoot-out loss to Italy.
“I don’t think I got over the last one, but it feels a bit different because when we reflect on what we did, I don’t know what more we could have done or given,” Southgate said. .
“I think we gave a very good performance against a top team, which I think was a big psychological step for these players.
“There are young players in there in particular, where the step we need to take is to have that conviction and that confidence in those big games.
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Jamie Redknapp believes Hugo Lloris ‘frightened’ Tottenham team-mate Harry Kane which caused the striker to miss his second penalty of the game as England crashed out of the World Cup at the hands from France.
“I was involved in nights where we played the top teams and were on the back foot for the majority of the game and dominated.
“I know France are a bit more counter-attacking, so it’s a bit different from a possession team that can push you back.
“We wanted to be bold in the tournament and I think we went with them and, yes, the players should be really proud of what they’ve done.”
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Jamie Redknapp believes Bukayo Saka should not have been substituted in their World Cup quarter-final loss to France, arguing England went astray after his withdrawal.
Southgate believes England have ‘restored their credibility’ by reaching the quarter-finals in three successive tournaments, which they last achieved under Sven-Goran Eriksson between 2002 and 2006.
The former defender is unsure whether he will watch the rest of the World Cup after returning home on Sunday from an abrupt halt to what was shaping up to be a special tournament.
“It’s a really strange feeling because the end of the tournament is so hard,” he said before leaving their base in Qatar.
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England fans in Manchester, London and Brighton were stunned and disappointed by Harry Kane’s missed penalty and their side’s elimination from the World Cup.
“Everybody wraps everything up and you go through years of preparation, really, and then there’s this feeling.
“There is the feeling that we were so close and the level of performance that I was so happy with.
“There’s the disappointment that we think we could have gone on and done more and yet I really have very few regrets about the whole thing. So, yeah, emotionally it’s really been a roller coaster.”
