Gareth Southgate: I won't stay if I'm not wanted

Gareth Southgate has said he will not outstay his welcome as England manager as he reacted to criticism over his tactics and team selection.

Ahead of Saturday's Nations League tie at home to Italy, Southgate added that some of the attacks he had faced, particularly from pundits and former players, had come from people who “have not managed teams”. He said: “Until you’ve managed teams, you have a different view of the game.

“For the man who comes and stands on the terrace and, in old terms, pays his money…I totally understand he wants to see a [Jack] Grealish with a [Raheem] Sterling with a [Bukayo] Saka...but you’ve got to have a balance of the team, this is top-level football.

“I think that the balance of the team to get to a [World Cup] semi-final and [Euros] final has been pretty good, and maybe we’ve talked for years about why we haven’t got there. Maybe having the balance of that hasn’t been where it might have been [in the past], but that’s going to continue – I’ve got to manage in the way I see fit. I won’t outstay my welcome, but I think I can do a good job for the team, and I think we’ve done a good job for the team.”

Pressed on why he raised his future, having last year signed a new contract until December 2024, Southgate added: “If you look back, I have always said it. I am not going to be here forever, am I? There will be another England manager… that’s how I have always felt about it. The major part of that is how the players are. Do I still feel the players give everything and respond to what we do? Yes, I do.”

Southgate admitted that some of the criticism, with the accusation that he can be too conservative and does not unleash England’s attacking talent, or get the best out of the likes of Trent