sport news DOMINIC KING: Gareth Southgate's pain was evident as England again dropped ... trends now
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Who cares about the Nations League? It’s a question that has been asked often this past week, as this seemingly never-ending football season trundles on into the space occupied by Test match cricket, lawn tennis and Royal Ascot.
Plenty will have placed little importance on England’s tussle with Italy at Molineux but Gareth Southgate, most certainly, was not among them. If anything, it was possible to say that nobody cared more about the outcome of this 90 minutes than the man in the smart blue suit.
Southgate is usually a placid character on the touchline, statesman-like in the way he is dressed and the way he acts. Only on rare occasions does his guard drop and the emotion comes tumbling out, usually if there is something major at stake.
Gareth Southgate was left frustrated as England were held to a drab goalless draw by Italy
There was something different about him on the touchline last night, however. It had all started as you would expect – there was a lovely moment between him and Gianluca Vialli, Italy’s number two, as they greeted each other – but the shrill of the whistle signalled the change in Southgate.
It is important to stress that England’s head coach was not maniacal, there was gesticulating or finger jabbing or anything of that nature. But having watched Southgate down
