Gareth Southgate is one hurdle away from redemption as his England team faces Spain in the final of the 2024 European Championship.
Southgate expressed satisfaction with how far his team has come in Germany in his press conference as his side aims to win another major trophy since the FIFA World Cup in 1966.
It has been 58 years of wait which has included huge expectations and bitter disappointments – however, the Englishman is now of the opinion his team’s status on the continent is up with the best.
“We tried to change the mindset from the start, we’ve tried to be more honest about where we were as a football nation,” Southgate said.
“I’ve travelled to World Cups, European Championships and watched highlights reels before the matches on the big screens and we weren’t in any of them – because they only show the finals. So we needed to change that.
“We had high expectations, but they didn’t match where we were performance-wise. Now, the high expectations are still there but we have consistent performances over certainly three of the last four tournaments.”
England had struggled to get going in Euro 2024 until their eye-catching semi-final victory over the Netherlands when they finally delivered an attacking display worthy of their pre-tournament favourites’ tag.
“We’ve had to find a different way of playing as the tournament progressed,” Southgate continued.
“When we came in we had a lot of issues, particularly at the back, a lot of players who missed a lot of football towards the end of the season.
“We’ve been trying to find the right blend and balance for our attacking players because we’ve got super talent but a lot who like to operate in similar areas.
“We feel we’ve started to find that balance. We’ve looked dangerous, like we could score goals again, and I’m happy where the team were at going into this game.”
