SVEN GORAN ERIKSSON is happy that Gareth Southgate has left his job as England manager on his terms.
Southgate stepped down as the Three Lions boss following the defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
The former England player took the team to two Euro finals and a World Cup semi-final and quarter-final during his eight-year reign.
Eriksson, 76, had backed England to win the Euros before the heartbreaking loss in the final.
The Swed managed England himself between 2001 and 2006 but never managed to guide the team past the quarter-finals at a major tournament.
He was however happy that Southgate was able to make the decision to leave himself as he spoke about his own exit from England.
He wrote in his Telegraph column: “It is a pity he resigned but the one certainty in football management is that you will be sacked sooner or later. At least he had the opportunity to leave on his own terms.
“I was sacked in 2006 and left after the World Cup that year, but I left for other reasons. It had nothing to do with football. There was the ‘fake sheikh’ sting with the News of the World.
“It was a trap. There was also a fascination with my private life and the women I was with at different times. I was sacked because of that and the ‘sheikh’.
“We should have done better than the quarter-final at the 2006 World Cup but I would have preferred to be sacked for losing to Portugal on penalties.
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“In Germany, I would have been sacked because of that result and regardless of any stories in the papers.
“The people and the FA wanted more. It was quite some month, let me tell you.”
Here is a look at Gareth Southgate's record as England manager.
Overall record
Eriksson, who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, has also insisted that England does not have to have an English manager and should just find the “right man” to take over.
He added: “For me, it should not matter.
“The most important thing is to find the right man who can not only take the team to a final, but also go the full distance.
“If he is English, or foreign, I don’t think it should mean much.
“You just have to find a top manager, or a young one with a good future.”
There has already been many candidates named as Southgate’s potential successor.
Englishman Eddie Howe, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard have all been linked.
The Under-21’s head coach, Lee Carsley, is also believed to be in the running.
While foreign coaches Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have also been rumoured.
By Tom Barclay
Gareth Southgate claimed that only winning Sunday’s final would earn England the respect of the footballing world.
Spain proved a last-gasp comeback too far in Berlin, but defeat did not change the fact that Southgate’s eight-year transformation put respect back into the world of England football.
Critics will pick apart his cautious tactics, his selection choices and his record in the most high-pressurised games – with some legitimacy.
Yet what is quickly forgotten is the laughing stock our national side had become before he took over in 2016.
A shambolic Euros exit to Iceland that summer had been followed up by Sam Allardyce quitting just one game into his tenure thanks to his pint of wine with undercover reporters.
Then came Southgate, with his decency, his humility, his understated eloquence and his vision for a better, different future.
He had analysed why England had so often failed in the past, from lack of preparation at penalty shoot-outs to players being bored out of their minds during major tournaments.
Southgate took those findings and implemented a culture where players wanted to play for their country again – and it led to back-to-back finals for the first time in our history.
Instead of going to war with the media, he opened his doors to them and discovered, shock, horror, that it was met, generally, with support.
It did not stop him from being criticised when required – we are no cheerleaders, here – but the vitriol of yesteryear – or today on social media – was largely gone.
No manager is perfect and neither was Southgate. We cannot pretend his teams played like those of Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp.
But in the fullness of time, his feats will likely be revered because the results speak for themselves.
Hopefully his successor can go one step further and bring football home.
To do that, they must show respect to what Southgate has created and build on it, rather than rip it down.
To read more from Tom Barclay click HERE.
