Gareth Southgate is a “good loser” but England need a serial winner if we ever want world titles

I’m sick of us being brave losers.

After the loss to France, it was just: “Well done England, damn good loss, cheer up.”

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I can not stand that.

If I had been one of those England players, I would have been in don’t talk to me mode for about two years. I don’t want anyone to tell me I did well.

We missed another fantastic opportunity and it’s not a matter of effort. We gave absolutely everything.

But our “good job boys, better luck next time” attitude is fucking bugging me. I’m such a bad loser, I can’t take it.

That’s the mentality we need to change.

They’re all nice people at the England camp. Gareth Southgate is beautiful, Stevie Holland is wonderful, Chris Powell is a beautiful man.

But they need an experienced series winner around the court.

Gareth doesn’t lack courage, he has tremendous courage. But he’s a good loser. It’s hard to say, but it’s the truth.

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They need a different voice, an experienced mind who has won for his clubs at the highest level and who can say a word to some ears about what you need to do to cross that line that we seem unable to cross.

We could have done it in Qatar. We fight, we don’t run away. But losing becomes a habit and it’s hard to shake it, even with all the will and ability in the world.

You walk onto the field scared of what might happen and the more you lose the worse it gets.

I don’t want Southgate and his coaching staff to stop. They’re great guys and they’re doing a great job.

Gareth is probably thinking, ‘Have I made it as far as I can go? I had three shots at it.”

But is there someone else to replace him?

For example, I don’t think Eddie Howe is ready.

He’s still in the early stages of development and probably wouldn’t leave Newcastle anyway. We have the best man at the moment but we need to find a way to get to the next level.

That’s why we need this Bryan Robson character, a winner who has a word for the coach or the players at crucial moments. Someone the coaching staff can turn to for advice. Sol Campbell could also be someone who fits the bill.

France have that in their coach Didier Deschamps who did everything and we miss that ingredient in the backroom team.

When we were kids in Arsenal’s youth team we won everything and when we played for the first team at Anfield it didn’t bother us, we expected to win. The same was true for the Class of 92 at Manchester United.

With experience you will learn what to do, when to stop, when to keep going. You learn what is important.

Emotionally and mentally we need a clear change here. We do the same things. We get what we believe we will get.

Someone has to get in among these guys and say there’s going to be a moment when you have to stand up.

I remember when we went to Rome and needed a draw to qualify for the 1998 World Cup and it took a split second when Christian Vieri came in at the near post and it looked like he could score but I did done just enough to stop him.

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Similarly, Harry Maguire had to get Olivier Giroud’s threat across and wipe it out. There are moments in a game when it’s your turn when an individual needs to do their part to ensure the team is successful.

Players need to know when their moment is.

I said to my boy, ‘Giroud hasn’t done anything.’ And he said, ‘Dad, you curse him’ – and he comes up with the winner.

He was there when it was his moment, Maguire wasn’t.

And Southgate also needed someone to tell him, “You can’t take Bukayo Saka off, he’s our best player.”

Saka was my man of the game, he was brilliant. And, as I said before the game, their full-backs weren’t as good as ours.

Theo Hernandez was shocking and Saka took him to the dry cleaners. Whereas for us Kyle Walker had a good game against Kylian Mbappe.

We are working in the right direction. We have good players but I’m in favor of a change of captain. Harry Kane is number 9 and he didn’t shy away from the responsibility of missing that penalty.

But we have to think about what we’re going to do with the captaincy now.

That’s a bigger problem than the coach, and like I said, I think Declan Rice should have the job.

Will Kane be the shining star in the next two tournaments?

When do we get to the point where we take it off and change it?

It’s hard when he’s the captain.

However, Southgate and Kane come as a couple and there is such a strong bond.

It is another matter for the experienced man to advise and persuade the manager to make this change.

Find the right man for this job and maybe we’ll crack him.

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