Euro 2024: Gareth Southgate's England legacy will be defined by events in Germany - what will it be?

Gareth Southgate takes their place at the lectern instead with the full glare of the national spotlight thrust upon him by a fair share of England’s inquisitive and demanding 55 million odd inhabitants.

Every pre and post-match sentence that Southgate utters, every on-pitch decision that his starting XI makes, every substitution that he makes - or maybe doesn’t - will be dissected forensically or ferociously depending on events. Not just by journalists.

Then after a very brief lull in the wee hours after Sunday night’s dangerous-looking finals opener against Serbia, it all starts again come Monday morning. All roads then lead to Frankfurt and Denmark on Thursday.

The buck ultimately stops with a middle-aged man of the south who has made Yorkshire his home and has much to admire about him.

Those qualities of resilience and single-mindedness which Southgate has honed in not far shy of eight years doing the ‘impossible job’ - earning the respect of plenty in his adopted county and beyond - will be subjected to their definitive test over the coming weeks. Hopefully, the next month.

It will dictate as to whether his very good stewardship of the national team will be upgraded to excellent or even great. Now wouldn’t that be quite something..

It begins in the coal town of Gelsenkirchen, where England’s Golden Generation crashed and burned in a World Cup quarter-final with Portugal in 2006. Gareth’s Generation start out at that same venue - hoping for better.

Ahead of the tournament, Southgate cut to the chase by stating ‘If I don’t win, I probably won’t be here anymore’, while acknowledging it could well be his ‘last chance’.

His contractual situation - his deal expires later this year - provides the opportunity for a natural break if things don’t go as planned. Even if they do, don’t discount the 53-year-old going in any case. Southgate may be viewed as the Football Association’s man, but ultimately he is his own man.

Like when he stuck by Harry Maguire when many doubted him ahead of the 2022 World Cup. It was the type of shrewd call that only an experienced international manager makes.

The best managers don’t mind being unpopular and Southgate never plays to the galleries.

His recent decision to omit Jack Grealish from his final squad is another case in point.

It is Maguire’s injury absence - and inability to line up alongside fellow Yorkshireman John Stones in a central defensive axis which receives more credit on the continent than it does on these shores - which represents Southgate’s biggest issue to solve to ensure Euro 2024 is the one everyone craves.

Without Maguire, Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi - who only made his return after three months out with a knee injury in early May - is the next cab off the rank, seemingly. If so, he must rapidly build a relationship with Stones, with the caveat being that the latter only started 12 league games last term.

While there is a big concern at left-back with the undercooked Luke Shaw - out since mid-February - being the only recognised player in that position, Kieran Trippier’s adaptability assuages that. He has rarely let England down there when it matters and Kyle Walker is a dependable figure on the opposite flank.

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Further forward, England are blessed with an embarrassment of riches and two gun players who Europe’s heavyweights fear in Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. There is plenty of respect for others too, most notably Declan Rice. But if England are to excel, the feted talents of Phil Foden and Bakayo Saka must truly come of age internationally. At 24 and 22, they aren’t kids anymore.

Unlike in Germany 2006, Southgate’s group are together, have each others’ backs and have been through plenty. There are no club cliques and the WAG circus of Baden Baden is mercifully a thing of the past. This class of 2024 won’t splinter.

The ‘Team England’ culture that Southgate has created means he will bequeath a strong legacy whenever he goes. Players like him and so do the FA suits.

But with the 1966 backpack still weighing players down – complete with the omnipresent and increasingly irksome ‘It’s Coming Home’ soundtrack - England await liberation. For England at international level, read Newcastle United at club level. For 66, read 69. For Bobby Moore, read Bobby Moncur. All the gear, but no glory.

It is Southgate’s misfortune that the competition this summer is deadly serious, moreso than three summers ago in England. A juggernaut French squad are blessed with explosive talent and the hard-nosed pragmatism that is required to go all the way.

Germany are at home and showing signs of rediscovering their mojo. The Iberian nations look in good order and Belgium and Italy should not be discounted. Or the Dutch maybe.

For England to triumph, many variables must come together. Including luck. Southgate will know that you ultimately make your own.