KEIR RADNEDGE in BERLIN: England manager Gareth Southgate insisted that the immediate aftermath of the 2-1 Euro final defeat by Spain was not the appropriate moment to discuss his future.

Southgate, 53, has been in charge for almost eight years, taking England to two Euro finals and a World Cup semi-final. His contract expires in December and the Football Association wants him to continue. Southgate, however, may feel differently after the heavy personal criticism he endured in the earlier stages of the Euro finals.

After the Berlin beating, he said: “I don’t think now is a good time to make a decision like that. I need to talk to the right people. It’s not for now. England are in a good position in terms of experience. Most of this squad will be around for the World Cup and the next Euro. There’s a lot to look forward to but at this moment it’s not any consolation.”

Southgate, reviewing where it all went wrong for England, added: “We’ve competed until the very end of the final but I think we didn’t keep possession of the ball quite well enough. We defended well but when you win the ball back you need to get out from under that pressure and we weren’t able to do that.

“That said we got the equaliser and then it was wide open. A big chance at the end to equalise so as always it is fine margins. It is going to take a while to pick the bones out of it really. I do think Spain were the best team in the tournament.”

One of the key decisions Southgate had to take concerned captain Harry Kane who has not looked at his sharpest or fittest. He was substituted by Ollie Watkins, the semifinal match-winner against Netherlands, after only an hour.

Southgate said: “Physically it has been tough for him. He came into the tournament short on games and has not quite reached the level we all would have hoped. The games are hugely demanding and we thought Ollie’s freshness would allow us to press better.”

Kane looked bereft at the final whistle after watching the last halfhour from the sidelines.

He said: “Losing in a final is as tough as it gets. We did really well to get back in the game and to 1-1. We could have used that momentum to push on but we couldn’t keep the ball and we got punished. We didn’t keep the same intensity and pressure. It is the last game of the tournament so there were are a lot of physically and mentally tired players out there.

“We wanted to do it so badly for ourselves but also our fans. For now it is a huge disappointment.”

Kane, asked his opinion about Southgate’s future, said: “We love the manager but that is his decision. This is not the time to talk about it. He will go away and think about it.”

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