Southgate’s England are in decline ahead of WC 2022 with failure looming in Qatar.

England are six matches without a win ahead of the World Cup

England tend to save their crises for once the World Cup begins. However, Gareth Southgate and company are starting early for the 2022 World Cup.

The Three Lions are winless in six straight matches, all of which being UEFA Nations League fixtures, and conceded a remarkable 10 goals in their last six games. Ahead of England’s UEFA Nations League matchday No. 6 fixture with Germany, they had scored just once in the competition. A Harry Kane penalty in Munich was the team’s only goal.

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Pundits from one major football podcast in England don’t seem concerned, however. The common refrain in the wake of Monday’s 3-3 draw with Germany was ‘who cares about the Nations League anyway?’

The Nations League may not be at the top of international fans’ list of competitions, but, in 2019, the same pundits praised England for advancing to the tournament’s finals round.

Whether you like the Nations League or feel it is another attempt at UEFA or FIFA to add more meaningless international football into an overpacked football calendar, the simple fact remains, England are not playing well ahead of the World Cup.

Southgate led England to fourth place at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It was a brilliant result for Southgate, but it cannot be argued that England’s path to the semifinals wasn’t the most difficult.

A second-place finish behind Belgium in Group G sent the Three Lions through to the knockout stage. A penalty shootout win against Colombia followed before a 2-0 victory over Sweden in the quarterfinals.

A tired England went to extra time with Croatia in the semifinals, but Mario Mandzukic’s goal in the 109th minute sent Southgate’s team to the third-place playoff rather than the final. There, England lost 2-0 to Belgium in a flat performance.

Harry Kane won the Golden Boot with six goals of England’s 14 goals. The team rode Kane’s goal-scoring for the most part. The Tottenham star came up with the team’s most important goals, something he is still being relied upon to do. Yet, Kane is four years older, slightly slower due to ankle injuries, and possibly not as dangerous as in Russia.

England went more than 450 minutes in UEFA Nations League play without scoring a goal from open play. Before Monday night’s 3-3 draw with Germany at Wembley, the Three Lions’ only goal of the Nations League was from the penalty spot in a 1-1 draw with the Germans in Munich.

Southgate’s team is not creating goals despite their high number of shots. The Three Lions tallied 13 shots with eight on target versus Germany. The Germans had just four shots on target during the match, yet scored three times. Efficiency is not one of the words to describe Southgate’s team.

England’s success under Southgate at the 2018 World Cup, 2018-19 Nations League, and the 2020 UEFA European Championship should be celebrated. His group of nearly men made a nation dream. However, national teams tend to go in cycles, and Southgate’s looks almost finished.

In Southgate’s defence, he has a win rate of 63%. The numbers are a bit skewed, with England dominating World Cup qualifiers against teams such as San Marino, Albania, Andorra, and the like.

Nations League Group G was always going to challenge England. The reigning European Champions Italy, archrival Germany, and a feisty Hungary played England in the group stage. Any thoughts of an easy route to the final four were smashed by Hungary’s 1-0 win in Budapest to start the tournament. Back-to-back draws gave England hope of staying in League A, but a 4-0 debacle at Wembley versus the Hungarians derailed the campaign.

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Some fans will claim England’s poor Nations League performance was down to fatigue and tiredness. A winter World Cup in the middle of a busy club season isn’t going to alter player fatigue. Players may be more prone to injury with the World Cup in November and December, as a short window of rest is provided to players.

There is plenty of stubbornness to Southgate’s team selection. He has favourites such as Declan Rice, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, and Kane who seem to do no wrong.

Rice has played a lot of football over the last 12-plus months, and his form has suffered for it. Maguire and Shaw have fallen off a cliff in terms of form, and neither looked sharp against Germany. Moreover, neither can currently get a game for Manchester United this season. Kane could also use the rest. His back and ankles must be hurting from carrying the national team.

Southgate took England forward, but now, it feels like this is the same old England team from the 2000s and 2010s. The teams that consistently had the same underperforming players picked for matches and tournaments.

Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over-and-over and expecting different results.” Okay, Southgate played Jude Bellingham, Nick Pope, and Eric Dier against Germany, and all three deserved to start, yet Raheem Sterling still gets a place over Bukayo Saka. There isn’t a place for Tammy Abraham to start or come off the bench.

Abraham left Chelsea in 2021 seeking first-team football. He found it in Italy at Roma, where he has now scored 29 goals in 61 matches in all competitions. Abraham was one of just two players in England’s squad against Germany that plays outside of the Premier League. The other was Bellingham, who excelled before leaving the match due to a possible injury.

Following England’s Nations League matchday No. 5 loss to Italy, the Italian media sarcastically thanked Southgate for not playing the likes of Abraham, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jarrod Bowen, and other players that could have been given a chance to impress. Southgate used just two subs in the defeat, with Jack Grealish and Luke Shaw getting a run-out.

Southgate is starting to become Sven-Goran Eriksson, Fabio Capello, and the other managers that came before him by getting stuck in his ways.

Fortunately for England, their World Cup group does not look difficult. England will start the tournament with Iran before playing the United States on matchday No. 2. Wales will finish the group stage, and England should progress as Group B winners.

It is too late to change managers. The World Cup is weeks away, and many people are putting the Nations League performance down to it being a third-tier competition. Unfortunately, you cannot praise England for reaching the semifinals of the Nations League only to turn around and poo-poo the competition three years later.

A failure in Qatar looks likely based on the team’s current form. Revisionist pundits will look back at the Nations League as a ‘sign of things to come’, if England fail to reach the semifinals of the World Cup, England are not playing well. Southgate’s cycle looks up, and unless the players suddenly find form in an England shirt, football won’t be coming home… again.