Connection With The English Supporters Has To Improve – Gareth Southgate

Gareth Southgate indicated that he would be interested in extending his contract as England manager beyond Euro 2020.

Reports in August claimed that the Football Association are confident of keeping Southgate in charge of the national side through to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Speaking at the time, FA chief executive Martin Glenn said all parties shared a desire to reach an agreement over a new deal, hinting that talks would begin as soon as Southgate returned from his post-World Cup holiday.

“There is a lot for everybody to think about,” he said when asked about the possibility of a new deal. “I love the job, the group of players and the staff have been fantastic to work with, and we have some exciting young players coming through as well, but the focus is on tomorrow night at Wembley.

“It is brilliant that there is this excitement around international football because one of our ambitions is to improve that connection with the supporters, so the impact of the team over the summer was really pleasing.

“A year ago, we had paper aeroplanes landing in the pitch when we qualified, so that is great credit to the players.”

England’s run to the semifinals of the World Cup in Russia last summer — their best showing at the tournament since 1990 — has prompted a spike in public interest in the national team, but Southgate is well aware that the stiffest tests are still in front of his young side.

Spain represent talented and motivated opposition under new coach Luis Enrique, and Southgate warns that England’s focus must now be on beating elite opponents rather than dwelling on their World Cup heroics.

“We want to test ourselves against the very best,” he added. “We chose to play Spain, Germany, Brazil and Italy over the last year to 18 months and if you look back in history our record against top teams is non-existent.

“It’s very rare since the 1970s and 1960s that we beat those teams. [Our] history isn’t impressive, ideally over the next couple of years we’d like to go into the European Championships having beaten those teams and to do that we have to be spot on in every area.”