Jordan Pickford hopes that Gareth Southgate will choose to stay on in his role after Euro 2024, saying he is ‘the best England manager that there’s been.’
It was more pain for the Three Lions on Sunday in Berlin as they were beaten 2-1 by Spain in the tournament showpiece.
A forgettable, goalless first half was followed by far more action after the break, with Nico Williams opening the scoring just moments after the restart.
Substitute Cole Palmer gave England hope with a fabulous equaliser, but Mikel Oyarzabal extinguished that hope with an 86th minute winner.
Southgate’s current contract expires in December but the FA are keen for him to lead the team to the next World Cup in 2026.
The decision is in the manager’s hands and Pickford hopes he chooses to stay on after two European Championship finals, along with semi-final and quarter-final runs at the World Cup.
‘We’ve had a fantastic journey and hopefully he stays on because he’s the best England manager that there’s been, looking at the history,’ Pickford told ITV. ‘We’ve not got over the line, but to get in two finals, one semi and one quarters in four majors in a row is a great achievement.
‘But not to lift that trophy at the end is a massive sucker punch for us. That’s all we want as a team and we’ve not managed to do it. We’re devastated.’
Pickford was trying to look on the bright side of reaching the final, but could only really feel the pain of another defeat after the penalty shootout loss to Italy in 2021.
‘To get to a final we’ve got to be proud, but we’re absolutely devastated for us as players, as England as a nation not to get over the line. I’m gutted for my family who’ve been on the journey with me since I was a kid,’ he said.
‘Got to be proud of what we’ve tried to achieve and fallen short again. Two massive negatives to get beat by Italy in the last Euros on pens and for them to score in the 86th minute tonight, it’s took the soul out of me to be honest.
‘There’s no more words really, I’ve given it my all, I think we’ve all given it our all and just not managed to get over the line.’