Gareth Southgate admits ‘very critical’ coaches used to ‘bully’ players during his career… as the England boss opens up on how he treats his squad

Gareth Southgate has opened up on how he treats his England squad ahead of their upcoming Euro 2024 campaign, admitting that ‘very critical’ coaches used to ‘bully’ players during his career.

England head in this summer’s European Championships as one of the favourites to lift the trophy, blessed with talents such as PFA Player of the Year Phil Foden, Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham and Bundesliga top scorer Harry Kane.

Despite not yet winning a major tournament, Southgate has brought a sense of unity and togetherness to the England camp since his appointment as Three Lions boss in 2016 – and much of that comes down to his style of management.

The 53-year-old manager wants to establish an environment where players feel a ‘freedom to play’, admitting that coaches during his career often hindered this by being too critical.

‘When we were growing up, we were bullied, really. Maybe that’s too harsh, but the coaches were very critical,’ Southgate told GQ. 

The Three Lions manager is keen to give his England stars a ‘freedom to play’ and says that coaches during his era stifled this by being ‘very critical’ and almost acting like ‘bullies’

‘That gave me a real toughness that has helped in my life, but there’s a flip side to that, where you don’t feel the freedom to play. As soon as you made a mistake, boom, it was highlighted. 

‘Whereas now we highlight the things that go wrong more when we win than when we lose. And when we lose, you’d be picking out the positives a little bit more.’ 

Southgate, who named his provisional 33-man squad for Euro 2024 last Tuesday and boldly excluded senior players including Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford, will take charge of two pre-tournament friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland next week.

The England boss has a few key decisions to make ahead of the tournament, with Luke Shaw’s injury thwarting options at left-back and Declan Rice still in need of a regular central midfield partner.

Southgate, who insisted managers are ‘always learning’, urged that he is determined to ‘master’ his role as England boss.

Southgate’s 33-man provisional squad are preparing for next week’s pre-tournament friendlies

England have a shortage of left-backs heading into Euro 2024, with Luke Shaw (right) injured

‘My mindset is I want to master the profession I’ve chosen,’ he added.

‘As a 33-year-old player, coming towards the end with England, I was still learning new ideas even though I played at the very highest level. 

‘It’s the same as a coach – you are always learning your trade. Then there’s the [fact] the world is changing so quickly with technology. There are new jobs that weren’t in existence five years ago, so you have to keep pace with all of that change.’ 

Read the full interview online at British GQ now.