The pressure is mounting upon England manager Gareth Southgate, whose side once again faltered in the knockout stages of a major tournament. Thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Auriel Tchouameni, the 2018 World Cup champions defeated England in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup. This now means that England’s wait for a football World Cup now extends to 60 years, having last won it in 1966. 

A major incident during this clash against Les Bleus that made headlines was Harry Kane’s penalty miss. Kane came up to take the penalty with his side 2-1 down in the match, having already scored one before. This time, the Tottenham striker smashed it high and wide, much to the disappointment of the fans. England did not score any more goals and got knocked out of the tournament. 

Southgate overtook Sam Allardyce in 2016 as an interim manager and soon became the full-time boss of the national team. Under his stewardship, England reached the finals of the Euro 2020 and finished in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup. 

Tony Adams spent 19 seasons with Arsenal in the Premier League, making over 650 appearances for the club. The legendary center-back, who also played 66 times for England during his illustrious career, was unhappy with the response by fans and players after the defeat against France. He also suggested that Southgate is too nice for the job and that England should look for replacements. 

“I’m fed up with us being plucky losers. After we lost to France all the talk was: ‘Well done England, jolly good defeat, keep your heads high.’ I can’t stand that. If I’d been one of those players, I’d be in ‘don’t talk to me mode for about two years. I wouldn’t want anyone telling me that I’d done well,” Adams said. 

“But they need an experienced, serial winner around the place. Gareth doesn’t lack courage, he has tremendous courage. But he’s a good loser. It’s hard to say that but it’s the truth,” Adams added. 

Thomas Tuchel is one manager who is in contention to take over this job if Southgate decides to leave his position. It was being reported that the FA does not intend to sack him and the decision is down to Southgate if or not he wishes to continue.