sport news Gareth Southgate only has 24 HOURS to reignite England's team spirit ahead of ... trends now

They have camped with the Royal Marines on Woodbury Common, they have sat round a virtual camp fire and shared their most vulnerable life moments and they have had mood experts in to transform St George’s Park to get the England team mentally right for the Euros in 2021.

Yet now, for this England team, whose biggest asset seems to be a team spirit painfully missing from more golden generations, there isn’t the luxury of time to build the camaraderie which has been such a vital component of their relative successes.

Gareth Southgate has 24 hours to reignite the spirit of 2018 and 2021 before England fly off to the Souq Al Wakra Hotel, overlooking the Persian Gulf. The team staff have one day to get the players into the mindset that, potentially, they are approaching the most significant four weeks of their professional lives.

Tomorrow Southgate will attempt to condense a motivational and messaging programme, which would usually be drip fed over a fortnight, into a day. 

He isn’t letting on what the players have in store — the surprise element is crucial for it to be effective — and yet, if Southgate’s interventions in the past are a guide, you can guarantee it will make an impact.

Wales have famously had actor Michael Sheen in to deliver a rousing speech to stir their Celtic souls at September’s international meet-up. ‘Maybe we can go one better than Wales,’ teased Southgate.

Sir Kenneth Branagh doing Henry V is out, as he’s from Belfast, so maybe they need Daniel Craig to convey the sense that they are His Majesty’s Secret Service or Idris Elba to channel the inspiration he brought to playing Nelson Mandela. 

If all else fails, there’s always Ricky Tomlinson to reprise Mike Bassett: England Manager with his most-inspirational line: ‘England will be playing Four four f****** two!’

‘We’re just really conscious of that transition,’ said Southgate. ‘They’ve been heads down [focusing on the Premier League] and we’ve tried to let them get on with it. 

Even this week I’ve had to make my calls so I don’t affect club fixtures as much as possible. I know there will be players waiting for information, we’ve tried to be respectful, keep our distance. But they will get a chance to download and decompress for one day.

‘We want them to do all the things that going to a World Cup involves. the suits, the photos. Thankfully there’s been no record, or song. But we just want them to be excited about going.

‘We want to fuel that. The first couple of days we won’t be on the training pitch, bar a couple that will need to do something. We just want them to transition from a hectic club schedule to thinking about England. 

'We want to talk to them about the fact that this, whatever happens over the next four weeks, has been the second best period for English football. We can make it the best.’

Judging by their performances singing that national anthem, which were clearly audible when there were no crowds during the pandemic, Southgate is probably right that we should be thankful there is no song for this squad but his players do have to get excited about this World Cup and that will be harder than usual. 

It isn’t just the timing: this is a World Cup awarded by corrupt FIFA officials built on the backs of migrant labour deaths and a chorus of Sweet Caroline isn’t going to change that narrative.

But Southgate will consult widely, from psychologists to fellow coaches in cricket, rugby and Olympic sport and will have spent a lot of time getting the mental prompts just right. 

Even now an advance team are preparing the rooms at the Souq Al Wakra Hotel and in the past this has include hand-written messages from Southgate to greet each member of the team — from Harry Kane to the video technician — and ensuring that photos of their families are placed around the rooms to mimic a homely feel.

Many of Southgate’s critics deride this kind of touchy-feely stuff. You suspect they see it as the thin edge of the woke wedge, seeing as many of his detractors, led by disgraced former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, wanted to turn fans against the

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