Tuchel & Pochettino England links addressed by Southgate: ‘We’ve made the impossible look possible’

Three Lions boss has impressed at major finalsWorking on contract through to 2024Questions being asked of his future

WHAT HAPPENED? The man currently in charge of the Three Lions inherited what many considered to be a poisoned chalice back in 2016 following the departure of Sam Allardyce, with a permanent contract secured after starting out as interim boss. Southgate has gone on to guide England to the last four of the 2018 World Cup, UEFA Nations League Finals and the final of Euro 2020, with some big names now said to have been lined up to succeed him as speculation builds regarding his future.

WHAT THEY SAID: Southgate has said when addressing the talk of former Chelsea coach Tuchel and ex-Tottenham manager Pochettino supposedly waiting in the wings to fill his shoes: “Maybe we’ve made the impossible just look possible. Yeah, look, maybe we’ve made it look possible and its exciting for other people and I can understand that. We want England to be competitive for years to come and I believe that our academy system has got that. I think there are challenges within that because we’re back to 31 per cent of the league being eligible for England and only four or five exports of a high level so there are still some challenges for us in terms of development of players and opportunity for players. But we have also got some good players and we should be competitive for the next six, eight years with this group.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Southgate is under contract until 2024, with those terms set to take him through another European Championship campaign, but there have been suggestions that he will either walk or be relieved of his duties following the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

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WHAT NEXT? England are due to open their latest quest for global glory against Iran on Monday, before going on to face the United States and Wales in their other Group B fixtures.