Dominic Fifield and more
Jun 28, 2021
50
Gareth Southgate is in his element. The England manager has made no secret that he relishes time in a tournament camp, when his staff and players “live as a family” in what, at Euro 2020, has become the tightest of bubbles. The Hilton hotel at St George’s Park has been adapted for the squad’s extended stay with all manner of comforting distractions incorporated to put them at ease, but it is the man overseeing the national team’s progress into the knockout stage that feels most at home.
“This is when you can really create the environment you want,” said the head coach before the finals, a reference not to hotpod yoga capsules or Formula One simulators, but to shaping the group’s mindset for the task ahead. “There’s more time than in a normal get-together during the season. More opportunity to space out your conversations with people. More chance to breathe and think.”