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Gareth Southgate Sympathises With Amorim, Maresca, Alonso Over ‘Power Struggles’

A number of factors have eroded manager authority in the eyes of Gareth Southgate.
Roberto Casillas|
Gareth Southgate is yet to resume his managerial career since his exit from the England national team.
Gareth Southgate is yet to resume his managerial career since his exit from the England national team. | Hollie Adams/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Former England national team manager Gareth Southgate shared his thoughts on the recent managerial exits of Enzo Maresca, Ruben Amorim and Xabi Alonso, indicating that “power struggles” were the “root cause” of the trio’s demises.

In the aftermath of the recent high-profile manager exits, Southgate took to his personal Linkedin page to share a lengthy message on the matter, while also touching on the complexity that comes with being a modern day football manager.

“In the last fortnight,” Southgate began. “Three of Europe’s biggest football clubs Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea have parted company with their head coaches. Of the three Maresca served the longest period at 18 months.

“Although each coach left under slightly different circumstances and for more than one reason, power struggles either with club executives (Amorim), club employees (Maresca) or players (Alonso) were ultimately the root cause of the end of each tenure.”

The former England boss seems acutely aware that performance on the pitch and results are just a fraction of what a modern day manager is judged by. He went on to recognise that the role of the manager has evolved in recent times, taking away authority from the man on the touchline.

“The erosion of a manager’s authority has been a gradual process over many years. It has accelerated with the widespread introduction of football, technical or sporting directors, who now oversee long-term football strategy, report directly to CEOs or owners (or both), and sit structurally above the head coach.”

Although it might be taken as a complaint to some, Southgate acknowledged this is part of the big picture changes that are reshaping the way team hierarchies are built in modern football, adding: “Personally, I have no issue with this evolution.

“Strategy, culture, planning, and continuity are critical to success in any organisation—and a football club is no different. A head coach neither has the time nor, in many cases, the specialist expertise to manage complex player contracts, oversee global scouting networks, or run sophisticated data operations.

“Equally, it makes little sense to dismantle medical or sports science departments every time there is a change of head coach.”

Southgate Suggests Manager Role is Harder Than Ever

Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate led England to consecutive European Championship finals. | Marcio Machado/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

Even if Southgate indicated managers nowadays have diminished authority when it comes to decision-making, he also believes there’s a number of other factors that make delivering at the role harder than ever before.

“Contrary to the belief of some fans that the role has become simpler (‘they just need to coach’), the opposite is true,” Southgate said. “Add to this the complexity of managing modern-day players (many of whom are effectively individual brands), alongside the financial stakes for clubs, and the relentless scrutiny of both traditional and social media, and you have a significant melting pot of problems and pressure.

“The modern head coach now finds themselves managing larger squads, bigger backroom teams, far greater analytical demands, and ever-increasing media and commercial obligations.

“This is not helped by the subtle, sometimes unintentional, shift in power and status implied by moving from the title of manager to head coach.”

The differentiation between the two is paramount in the eyes of Southgate and many other managers across the sport—just ask Amorim.

“As I once said to my bosses at England: players are not magnets on a tactics board that can simply be moved around. They are human beings. And managing that reality is at the heart of modern football leadership,” Southgate ended.

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Roberto Casillas
ROBERTO CASILLAS

Roberto Casillas is a Sports Illustrated FC freelance writer covering Liga MX, the Mexican National Team & Latin American players in Europe. He is a die hard Cruz Azul and Chelsea fan.

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