Gareth Southgate has once again underlined just what a good England manager he is. His defense of booed center back Harry Maguire shows how empowered he is to tackle the England landscape.
Harry Maguire entered this international break under scrutiny due to his poor form for Manchester United. When England faced the Ivory Coast at Wembley on Tuesday, he was booed.
Gareth Southgate came out in defense of his player after the game, and reminded the English media that a positive environment is what has led to the most competitive England team in decades.
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“I thought the reception was a joke, an absolute joke,” Gareth Southgate said.
“What he has done for us, the way he has performed for England, I don’t get it. We are either in this all together or we are not.”
The booes are obviously the result of the social media pile on Maguire has been victim to recently. Southgate is right to use such strong language, because he knows what can happen next.
“I would imagine if you asked a few actually why were they doing that they might not even be able to answer because it becomes a mob mentality.”
You see, English people are neurotic. Especially when it comes to football. Having a team with the best chance of winning a World Cup in recent history is no guarantee that the media will be able to resist working itself up into its favourite hysterical, vilifying frenzy.
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“That’s been one of the problems with playing for England. Players have thought ‘hmmm, do I want to go because when it turns a little bit difficult then the crowd are going to turn on me’.
“That happened with John Barnes here, that happened with Ashley Cole a couple of times, it happened with Raheem, now Harry. They’re all outstanding players so how that is going to benefit anybody I really don’t understand.”
