Gareth Southgate has no timeframe on when he will decide if he remains England’s national team boss following their exit from the Qatar World Cup.
England bowed out of the World Cup last Saturday when they were edged 2-1 by France, with captain Harry Kane missing a late penalty that could have maybe taken the game to extra-time.
Following the loss, Southgate’s future became the subject of the media, especially the British, but he has made it clear after Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Les Bleus that he will not rush into a decision on his future.
Southgate has been in charge of the Three Lions since 2016 and is contracted until December 2024.
“I’ve found large parts of the last 18 months difficult,” Southgate said. “For everything that I’ve loved about the last few weeks, I still have… how things have been for 18 months.
“What’s been said and what’s been written. The night at Wolves. There’s lots of things in my head that’s really conflicted at the moment.
“What I want to make sure, if it’s the right thing to stay, is that I’ve definitely got the energy to do that. I don’t want to be four or five months down the line thinking: ‘I’ve made the wrong call’. It’s too important for everybody to get that wrong.”
The ex-England defender had no timeframe on when he would make a decision on his future, stating he was eager to overcome the emotion of the defeat before making a call.
“When I’ve been through the past few tournaments, my emotions have been difficult to really think through properly in those following few weeks,” he said. “It took so much energy out of you and you have so much going through your mind.
“I want to make the right decision either way because it has to be the right one to go again, or the right one not to go again, and I don’t think now is the time to make a decision like that. Neither are the next few days, really.”
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