From zeroes to heroes: The inside story of how England manager Gareth Southgate created the summer of love

  • The England team have gone from embarrassments to heroes in two years
  • They faced a long road after being eliminated from Euro 2016 by Iceland
  • However Gareth Southgate's team enjoyed a superb World Cup in Russia
  • Here, Sportsmail charts how England came to be loved by the public again 

It has been a long journey over the last two years for the English men's national football team, from underachievers to footballing heroes.

The road came to an end with a fourth-placed finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, equaling their best-ever showing on foreign soil.

Here, Sportsmail charts the journey taken by England over an eventful couple of years, through all the crucial moments.

The England national football team have gone from underachievers to heroes in two years

The England national football team have gone from underachievers to heroes in two years

 

June 28, 2016: Rooftop Restaurant, AC Marriott Hotel, Nice 


Raucousness tells of the party ongoing in the streets below. Iceland are celebrating. It is 1am. On the rooftop terrace of the beach-side hotel sit Roy Hodgson, Ray Lewington and Gary Neville who have just resigned from their respective England posts.

There are few recriminations, just sorrow that a team of such potential has failed in spectacular fashion against a nation of 330,000. Later, Harry Kane will seek out FA chief executive Martin Glenn. 'It's not just about being unlucky,' Kane will tell him. 'We have to figure out how to make this better.'

Glenn is making a note to contact Jonny Zneimer from Lane4, the management consultants. Zneimer has provided psychological support to the England Under-21 teams. Glenn wants the new England manager to embrace his ideas.

England faced a long road to redemption after being eliminated from Euro 2016 by Iceland

England faced a long road to redemption after being eliminated from Euro 2016 by Iceland

March 21, 2017: St George's Park, Staffordshire

Gareth Southgate is England manager. His players are together for the first time since that was confirmed.

This is not a coherent FA plan. He has been promoted from the U21s because previous incumbent Sam Allardyce was sacked after the newspaper investigation in which he explained how to get round FA rules on player ownership.

Southgate says that, perhaps because the players are relatively young, they are more open to his methods. With older players 'any suggestion of a meeting receives a certain look,' he says.

'We are asking them to open up quite a bit on their own feelings, to do things where sometimes I think, 'They are never going to go for this'.

Southgate and Zneimer have a plan, but to encourage footballers to open up about their fears and weaknesses and share their hopes and dreams, something extreme is required.

Gareth Southgate got the manager's job only after Sam Allardyce was forced to resign

Gareth Southgate got the manager's job only after Sam Allardyce was forced to resign

June 2: 11.30pm, Woodbury Common, Devon

John Stones is still chattering. Having camped wild as a teenager he seems to be enjoying this. But for most, this is a long way from their comfort zone: sleeping rough with the Royal Marines on the common which overlooks the English Channel.

Stones shares with Raheem Sterling and Dele Alli. Players turned up at St George's Park that afternoon to prepare for a vital qualifier against Scotland. Instead of training, a sergeant major ordered them on to the bus. Phones were surrendered.

On arrival, Major Scotty Mills orders everyone to strip and don military fatigues before embarking a on a five-mile hike.

Southgate will also endure the most-stressful test the next day, an underwater tunnel. The players have to allow themselves to be shoved under the water by two Royal Marines and pushed through the tunnel. They are told one Marine once nearly died when he got stuck in full kit.

But friendships are made that weekend between young soldiers and players which endure today. More importantly, bonds are forged between players. 'We've worked hard getting to know each other off the pitch and on the pitch, creating that togetherness,' says Stones.

'You take that on the pitch. The manager has been a big part of that, wanting us to spend that extra 10 minutes speaking, getting to know about your personal life, trying to create a bond on a different level.'

A team bonding experience with the Royal Marines helped bring the players together

A team bonding experience with the Royal Marines helped bring the players together

September 1: Ta'Qali Stadium, Malta

England, labouring to increase a 1-0 lead against part-timers, are anything but a different level. About 3,000 fans have traveled but a full day's drinking has turned the atmosphere toxic.

'We're f****** s***' they sing. England would win the game 4-0, with three goals in the last four minutes but the fans would not see that. As the second half unfolds, an extraordinary exodus takes place. Afterwards Harry Kane is indignant at the jibe that players do not care.

'It's thoroughly unfair,' he said. 'Every player here is very proud to represent their country.' Southgate adds: 'Performances are going to take time and the team is going to evolve.'

It sounds like he's whistling in the wind. England have become a comically bad warm-up act to a big night out.

England laboured to a win over Malta, leaving the traveling fans entirely unimpressed

England laboured to a win over Malta, leaving the traveling fans entirely unimpressed

February 3, 2018: Minnesota Timberwolves v New Orleans Pelicans. Target Center, Minneapolis

Southgate is courtside for this NBA game with Chris Wright, who has worked with the Timberwolves for 26 years and is now chief executive of their soccer franchise. An Englishman abroad, with FA coaching badges, his expertise in NBA makes him a perfect foil for Southgate. He talks him through the three-hour contest and debriefs him afterwards.

'Once the game began he was very much into the tactics, man-to-man marking, the role of second and third defenders, everything around spacing, ball movement, how you develop a two-man play and screen and roll scenario,' said Wright.

'We walked away saying, "This guy is going to put England in the best possible position to win games", just because of the way he analyses absolutely everything.' At the World Cup England will score a record 12 goals; nine are from set plays.

February 4: Philadelphia Eagles v New England Patriots. Super Bowl, US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis

Southgate moves on to the Super Bowl, but what has most impressed him and FA staff are the media open days in the run-up to the game. All the players — and coaching staff — are available to all the media in open sessions in the build-up to the game.

It convinces Southgate and the FA to do the same. Wright confirms it was a conversation courtside at a Timberwolves game.

'One of the things he wanted to talk about was how to prepare players for media focus and access,' said Wright. 'He was amazed by the amount of access the media get on game day.'

England traveled to America to learn from sports including basketball and the NFL

England traveled to America to learn from sports including basketball and the NFL

June 18: 9.55pm, England v Tunisia, Volgograd

The game is 1-1. The clock says 89 minutes. In team meetings the players have agreed with Southgate that they should play out from the back. Thirty seconds of normal time remain when Kyle Walker finds himself deep inside his own half pressed by Tunisia's Saber Khalifa. He finds Kieran Trippier but, being closed by Khalifa, he can only return the ball by nutmegging him.

Walker has John Stones to his left but he is marked. Still, instead of hitting it long, Walker passes to Stones, who strides out to begin a sequence of 11 passes before Ruben Loftus-Cheek wins a corner, from which Harry Kane will score and cause the trajectory of England's World Cup to take a huge upturn.

'The biggest thing the manager has given us is identity,' says Jordan Henderson. 'The way we want to play was a discussion we had early on. We were on the same page straight away.

'And sessions, not just on the pitch, but off the pitch, getting to know each other closer than ever, deeper than previously. You can see that togetherness on the pitch. That's vital in moments in big games.

'This is the most together England team I've been involved in and that is a massive difference.'

Harry Kane's late winner against Tunisia transformed the atmosphere around their World Cup

Harry Kane's late winner against Tunisia transformed the atmosphere around their World Cup

June 23: 4pm, Cromwell Hotel, Repino

Dele Alli is enjoying a conversation with a journalist about Fortnite at the media centre near England's training camp. The journalist's 11-year-old son is a fan of the video game, as is Dele, who has a huge YouTube following of youngsters watching him play it. Coincidentally, the boy FaceTimes his father and asks to say hello to the player. Dele takes the phone.

'What, is this actually Dele Alli?' says the boy, incredulous. 'Dele smiles and replies in the affirmative.

Seeing the boy has headphones on, he asks: 'You playing Fortnite?' 'Yes,' says the boy taken aback. 'How you doing?' 

And so a conversation ensues over tactics, weapons and strategies. Dele has to be reminded that he actually has to go. It is a small moment of kindness but an indication of a gear change in the England camp.

'When you see how well they've done with media and fans, it has been amazing,' says Wright, who had briefed Southgate in Minneapolis.

'He's one of those new breed of managers coming through and it doesn't necessarily have to be the tried and true, the old way. There is a new age, a new way.'

July 2: Etihad Campus, Manchester

Phil Foden has returned a week early to training. The 18-year-old last year won the Golden Ball award at the Under-17 World Cup which England won. Along with Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi, Liverpool's Rhian Brewster - who won the Golden Boot - and Fulham's Ryan Sessegnon, Foden is tipped to be one of the players likely to breakthrough to the senior team soon.

However, he has a conundrum pertinent to England's future: how does a teenager force his way into this Manchester City team with David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne?

He hopes to impress Pep Guardiola and build on the three starts he made last year. One day he might be that more subtle midfielder to dictate the tempo of the game which England need.

Another player from that U17 team has taken a different route. Jadon Sancho left City and is at Borussia Dortmund, for whom he has made seven starts and scored once in the Bundesliga.

Manchester City youngster and England hopeful Phil Foden returns to pre-season training

Manchester City youngster and England hopeful Phil Foden returns to pre-season training

Dr Pippa Grange has been crucial for England

Dr Pippa Grange has been crucial for England

June 3: 8.40pm, Spartak Stadium, Moscow, England v Colombia

Pippa Grange is surveying the scene. The FA's Head of People and Team Development always looks on as the team warm up. Upon being appointed in December 2017, she took over the work that Zneimer started. She only met the players in March but has formed an extraordinary bond.

'She's an amazing person,' says Dele. 'Everyone listens when she talks.' Another says: 'Pippa has a way of making everyone open up.'

Tonight will be the test not just of psychological strength but also of a research document commissioned by FA technical director Dan Ashworth to study the best strategy to win a penalty shoot-out.

Perhaps they get lucky when Mateus Uribe hits the bar, Jordan Pickford's save from Carlos Bacca is pure skill, Eric Dier's winning strike is not the best, but they were prepared. Southgate and Grange told them to take control of the process, to write their own history. That night in Moscow, lifetime memories were made.

July 9: Cobham, Chelsea Training Ground

Callum Hudson-Odoi, 17, returns for pre-season training. Another star of the U17 World Cup winners, like Foden he is not included in the U19 England squad for the European Championships starting on Sunday in Finland. It is better to do pre-season to convince managers to start them in the first team, which will ultimately benefit England more in the long run.

'We had a similar situation last year with Trent [Alexander-Arnold] and Joe Gomez, where they didn't go with the U21s but they both got in, stayed in and both played regularly for Liverpool and Trent ends up playing in a Champions League final,' says Ashworth.

Callum Hudson-Odoi is another youngster considered to have a big future for England

Callum Hudson-Odoi is another youngster considered to have a big future for England

July 11: 10.11pm, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

England have not led a World Cup semi-final since 1966, but as the second half starts, they are 1-0 up and the better team. Walker has the ball but, instead of looking for Stones, opts to go long. Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic collects easily. A minute later England have a free-kick on the edge of the area and, with Croatia pressing, Pickford goes long. Croatia win possession.

In the 48th minute, Walker again, goes long to Kane, who can only head the ball out. Two minutes later, Pickford goes long to Kane but his header ends up with Croatia. This does not look like Southgate's England passing their way out of trouble.

As they repeatedly cede possession, Luka Modric sees more and more of the ball. He is now feeding Ante Rebic and Ivan Perisic, so Ashley Young and Kieran Trippier are on the back foot. Jesse Lingard and Alli are sucked into defensive work.

A huge gap now exists between the eight defensive players and the two attacking ones, Sterling and Kane. Modric is revelling in that space. England have reverted to type and forgotten how they got this far.

It is a stark reminder. The biggest revolution this summer has been in the way the team are perceived. On the pitch, there is work to be done.

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford dejected after they suffer semi-final heartbreak in Russia

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford dejected after they suffer semi-final heartbreak in Russia

July 11: 11.45pm, Luzhniki Stadium

Young sits, exhausted on the penalty spot. He looks up at the outpouring of goodwill from a few thousand England fans directed his way. He bows his head and looks away.

Southgate's words about what success with England might look like are sinking in - but there is nuance to success.

'Failure is really useful,' writes Grange. 'Successes are achieved through trying and trying most often ends in failure.'

Young was 33 last week and knows his World Cup race is run. All around though are young men who, should they make a semi-final again with England, might be braver and keep their heads.

July 12: 12.30am, Luzhniki Stadium

It is all over now. Only journalists, TV crews and die-hard England fans are left when Southgate falls into the arms of his wife, Alison, a private moment in the public gaze. 

They've been here before in his career: after that penalty miss in Euro 96 and when she found him making lists of things to do at 3am when he had been sacked by Middlesbrough.

This time it is different, however. Now he is an unlikely national hero forged by those failures. But this hysteria cuts two ways. This summer of love was conceived in an age of innocence.

Never again will England travel without expectation. A winter of discontent can emerge. Southgate's challenge at Euro 2020, where five games could be played at Wembley if the team reach the final, will be to ensure the sense of entitlement does not return among the public.

At Anfield there is a statue of great Bill Shankly. Underneath it reads: 'He made the people happy.' You can ask no more of a football manager. By that measure, Southgate has exceeded all expectations.

Southgate is comforted by his wife Alison after two transformative years for English football

Southgate is comforted by his wife Alison after two transformative years for English football

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