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The soccer publication is strangely uninspiring, yet curiously irresistible. Its title causes confusion. Dear England already names a successful play, an upcoming TV show, and a open letter authored by the manager in 2021.

This edition of Dear England isn’t formally related to any of those. It stands as an anomaly in the Dear England Multiverse, a volume about guidance: a typically dry top-level coach theme that the author follows relentlessly, using the words “leader”, “leading” or “leadership” no fewer than 500 times across 336 pages.

Themes Raised

“What are leaders? What do leaders do? And what do leaders know?” the author questions at the outset, setting out his stall, but stopping short to explore “How are leaders?”, questions likely reserved for a future volume.

Beyond that, this publication features a book-shaped hole throughout. It’s an exercise in indirectly hostile personal vindication, in coming close without actually stating the underlying truth, skipping adeptly from unsettled score to raw emotion across a collection of data visualizations, management jargon and discussions about historical figures.

Immersion

Engaging with the text is like overhearing your parents having a polite but deeply felt argument in the adjacent space while you’re attempting to focus on a professional workshop called “Numerous Justifications for My Ultimate Victory”. But it is also impossible to disengage, as the author keeps approaching to an issue you truly desire to hear about, before unexpectedly changing tack.

Revelations

The book contains always controversial revelations in books in this genre, such is the intense interest with the role of England manager. The best examples encompass: he decided he was certainly going to resign as England manager after fans hurled containers at him at the Euros; he nearly decided to forfeiting the game at half-time against Bulgaria in 2019 after his team were subjected to racism; he pioneered the concept of specialist dead-ball trainers and all teams in the top division is now adopting his methods; he has now misplaced his love for football, a surprising admission briefly included in a short passage at the final part.

Guiding England through a time of anger, optimism, turmoil and lockdown was a brutal journey. The wounds are obviously still fresh.

Commonplace Material

Otherwise, the text is saturated with an AI-style word-sludge of standard management talk. Copies of this book were distributed with critics under confidentiality clauses prior to launch, presumably out of apprehension someone might leak that “difficult conversations can, by their inherent quality, be difficult”, that you should always look before you leap, that guidance occurs where change meets understanding.

Emotional Core

The book contains however genuine sentiment here. Guiding England through a era of anger, optimism, political ferment and lockdown was a grueling journey. The wounds are clearly still fresh, though presented in a terminology-heavy reimagining of the traditional coach narrative: why I was actually right about everything all along.

Specific Examples

Even publication’s opening passage, disguised as thrilling recollections of the final of the European Championship, is completely dedicated to how good Southgate actually was at player changes (the big criticism of Southgate centering on he wasn’t successful at substitutes). Later, he explores extensive analysis about how he oversaw the Euros final of 2021 flawlessly – specifically the unsuccessful tiebreaker – because he adhered to a set protocol, which suggests that introducing inexperienced squad members very late to take the crucial attempt of their lives was logical and right.

That approach was confirmed by a winning tiebreaker against Switzerland at a later tournament after a game where England spent the full duration looking as if they were attempting to put on a jumper the wrong way round. “Our dominance in that shootout was simply exhilarating,” the author writes, while likening the showing to US Navy Seals eliminating a notorious figure. Oh Gareth.

Missed Opportunities

When we approach to a revelation, Southgate backs away from naming names or sharing the juice. We learn there were difficult England players who insisted on more consideration, possibly because they were indulged at the start of their careers. But as you anticipate eagerly, the author is already diverting into an area titled The Culture Code, which claims that rather than a collection of characteristics or values, team environment is in fact an element that is created by, unfortunately, stop, no more.

Highlights

Within the better bits are when he explores about the gradual method of building mental toughness in young people, or how he sought to articulate national identity more lucidly and more positively than any other figure in the limelight. The standout section, there is a truly compelling narrative of that traumatic night in Sofia where England’s players of color were subjected to vile treatment (and later supported forcefully by their leader).

Sincere Finale

Perhaps the most emotional part {comes|arrives|appears