A Post-Euros, Post-Copa Mailbag

As promised, this week’s newsletter has been designed as a monument to late-stage capitalism, in that the writing of it has largely been outsourced, but I am still taking credit for it. There are two issues, however, that arose perhaps a little too late in soccer’s month of festivities but which nevertheless warrant our attention.

The first is the departure of Gareth Southgate after eight years as England manager, a period in which he not only achieved the sort of success which would have looked like a golden age to most of his predecessors, but managed to do so while also largely embracing the absurd political and social expectations the country places on the role.

One aspect that has been missing from much of the coverage of Southgate’s departure is that of boredom. There had been (understandable) pressure on Southgate because of the soccer he played. There was (unwarranted) pressure on him because of his perceived social stances. But there was also pressure on him because he had been around for so long, and people like change.

England is not used to having a successful national team. England is not, in fact, used to having a national team not dogged by scandal and outrage. Southgate’s tenure has, essentially, been a quiet one.

The team has worked. The players have enjoyed it. But the lack of drama has been a source of frustration, too, a sense that England is just not interesting enough. Problems have not been imagined, but they have probably been exaggerated, by both the news media and fans, because England without noise is alien and unsettling and somehow unfulfilling.