IAN LADYMAN: Gareth Southgate's challenge is beating major nations when it really matters... Thursday's clash with Italy in Naples will be an important test for his England side

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The last time we saw Gareth Southgate in a football setting, he was standing in the corner of a hallway in the Lusail Stadium outside Doha. The World Cup was over and so, it seemed, was Southgate’s time as England manager.

Southgate looked a beaten man following defeat to France. Defeated in more ways than one. Beaten down by the challenge of the job and, more so, by some of the criticism he had endured ahead of the World Cup.

But with time came some perspective and behind that soon arrived a renewed appetite. So here he was in Naples. Ready to start again, ready to have his fourth go at winning a major tournament as head coach of England.

There is some comfort in familiarity but also some recognisable hurdles he knows must be overcome if he is to take this England team a step further than they travelled in losing to tonight’s opponents in the final of this competition at Wembley in the summer of 2021.

Gareth Southgate's England will face Italy in a Euros qualifier in Naples on Thursday night

‘I don’t think the players need any more evidence of what’s possible,’ said Southgate.

‘They have played basically in the biggest games in world football bar one.

‘They’ve had results against most of the top teams but we’ve got to do that more consistently.

‘The scenario of being in Italy, where we haven’t won for decades, is a classic of the type of game that we’ve got to start winning.

‘If we are looking for the next step to take as a team, this is it.

‘I enjoyed the experience of the World Cup, I was pleased with the way we played but now we have to start from scratch again. Yes we want to be European champions and we’ve had a lot of experiences that could help us to get there but as our opponents found, you can very quickly be in trouble qualifying’

Roberto Mancini’s Italy, of course, were not at the World Cup, having fallen apart a little after their success in the last Euros. This is unlikely to happen to England. Two from Group C qualify for the finals in Germany next year so England’s challenge is merely to finish ahead of Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta.

Their last game came in the World Cup quarter-finals, where they lost to France

England have struggled against top sides in recent years and lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy

But the challenge for Southgate and England lies beyond that. It’s about finding a way to beat major nations when it really matters. 

Since knocking Germany out of Euro 2020 at Wembley, England have played them twice, Italy twice and France once. They have not won any of those games, either in the disastrous Nations League campaign that preceded the World Cup or in Qatar itself.

Southgate knows this and is once again prepared to hear the calls for a more adventurous approach, to listen to those who insist his first instinct remains a negative, cautious one.

Tonight in the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium Southgate will field a back four which perhaps indicates that the 52-year-old has left his old fondness for a five-man defence behind. That will earn some credit but equally he knows that the greatest challenges lie much further down the road.

‘The hard part is that you have to wait 18 months to get to the point where you will actually be judged,’ Southgate nodded.

‘As I said, we have to make sure we get the qualification right.’

‘Our first game after the Euros in World Cup qualifying was away in Hungary and our performance was really good. Then we scored a late winner against Poland at an empty Wembley. I remember that felt really big

‘We need that mentality again now. The way you start a campaign is so important.’

Southgate described the Italy game as 'an opportunity to take the next step' for his side

As much as Southgate talked about a victory on Thursday, he knows that a draw would be something to cherish too. England host Ukraine at Wembley on Sunday and a four point haul from the two games would be more than good enough.

The strengths and weaknesses of this England team have not changed. Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has actually had more recent football than he had prior to Qatar, where he performed well. 

In the debit column, West Ham’s Declan Rice has not enjoyed his best season while injury has deprived Southgate of one in form forward, Marcus Rashford, and one who the coach would always prefer in his team than out, Raheem Sterling.

But Southgate looked like a man with a purpose as he spoke here last night. Qatar did not kill his spirit after all. Once more the England manager senses opportunity.