Matt Le Tissier: Saka penalty is the most horrific decision ever made by an England manager

Former Southampton and England player Matt Le Tissier has told William Hill’s podcast, Up Front with Simon Jordan, that Gareth Southgate’s decision to have Bukayo Saka take a penalty in the 2020 Euros Final was a “horrific decision”. 

Speaking on William Hill’s Up Front with Simon Jordan, a new podcast hosted by the former Crystal Palace owner who speaks to sports stars and celebrities and challenges their opinions whilst scrutinising their careers, Le Tissier discussed the disappointment of England’s loss to Italy at Wembley Stadium in the UEFA Euro 2020 Final.

“That was the most horrific decision [Saka taking a penalty] made by an England manager I have ever seen in my life,” the former forward said. “I think he [Gareth Southgate] has done the bare minimum of what should have been expected given the teams we have played against.

“Look at the positions that were in when we should have gone on; I think the decisions that were made were responsible for why we didn’t kick on. I thought that in both the Croatia [World Cup 2018 semi-final] and Italy games, we went 1-0 up and we didn’t go to kill the game off. We sat back and we invited the team onto us.”

Expanding more on the managerial role of the national side and whether Gareth Southgate is the right man for the job, Le Tissier said: “I think the more relevant point is who else is there? I think an Englishman should manage England because you are representing your country.

“It’s having pride in your country. If you are going to have an international tournament where all your players have to be English, I think your manager should be under the same rules as your players as you are all in the same squad, so why are there different rules for the manager and his eligibility than there are for the players?

“I have this innate feeling inside me about fairness and about trying to do things properly and my feeling is that if you are the manager of a national team, you should be that nationality.”

Lack of England caps “disappointing” 

Sticking with England, the 54-year-old shared with Jordan that he was sad not to receive more caps for the national side during the early years of his career.

“The year I won the PFA Young Player of the Year in 1990, I scored 24 goals that season,” he said. “If you bring that forward to today’s football and get an English midfielder at 21 years of age scoring 24 goals in the season, do you think he would be in the England squad? On the balance of probability, yes. During that season, I didn’t even get a mention for being in an England squad – not a mention.

“There was a lot of talent around there and obviously Gazza [Paul Gascoigne] was probably a big part of that. The disappointing thing about all of it was that I was given three starts for England; I got eight caps, but only three of them were starts. One of those games was abandoned after 27 minutes and the other two appearances were three years apart. That’s not really a great opportunity to show what you can do at an international level.

“I think there was definitely a big club bias in the 90s and I also attribute that to the reputation that I was given by the media of being a luxury, lazy player. I was labelled that quite early on and it’s very difficult when you get that reputation as a teenager to shake it off for the rest of your career.

“How can I have been lazy if in 540 appearances for a team that was in the bottom half of the table for the majority of that, I scored 290 goals and probably created another 100 or so? I thought it was unfair, but you can’t fight against the machine, so I took it.”

Kane’s teammates are the reason for trophyless run 

Expanding more on one of the highlight talents in the Premier League, Le Tissier discussed the potential move for Spurs striker Harry Kane and why his 14-year spell in north London has lacked silverware.

He added: “Harry Kane has become Spurs’ all-time leading goalscorer which is a legacy, that’s a proper legacy. I would have loved to have done that at Southampton, but I couldn’t quite catch Mick Channon and that is something that annoys me to this day.

“I think what Harry has done at Spurs is incredible and the only person who knows what is in his head, what he thinks, and what he wants to achieve in his life is Harry himself.

“I had dinner with a group of Spurs fans the other day and all of them said that if he went, they wouldn’t have any complaints. He’s given his time there and he’s done everything in his ability to try and win Spurs a trophy. It hasn’t worked and I think that Harry can hold his head high in the fact that he has done his job and he has probably been let down by the players around him. If everyone in that Tottenham team was doing their job as competently as Harry Kane was, they would have won a trophy by now.”