Even while he was still playing Southgate sensed he would be more successful as a manager and, after an impressive England tenure so far, now comes the acid test

Gareth Southgate always felt he had something still to achieve. He sensed it long before his playing career had been curtailed, reconciling himself with the reality that a move to one of the Premier League’s elite clubs had gone, but never that his chance to scale the pinnacle of the sport would elude him. “Over the last few years I have felt too often that I may have to wait for a career in management to have a shot at fulfilment,” he had conceded. “A strange thought for a man still unsure about what he wants to do after his playing days are over.”

The conclusion had been drawn towards the end of Woody and Nord, the book written with his close friend and former teammate in Crystal Palace’s youth team Andy Woodman in 2003, when he still had three years of a stint at Middlesbrough to run. It proved prophetic and, if the 47-year-old rather stumbled into his current role, there has been clarity to his approach to the job. In the Volgograd Arena on Monday, when Southgate’s England stare down Tunisia in their opening Group G fixture, that opportunity to realise a long-held aspiration will finally be his.

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This will be a very different test of Southgate’s credentials. Everything he has done over his England tenure has been impressive. Those who feared he was merely a yes man, the Football Association’s safest option given the post-Euro 2016 meltdown and Sam Allardyce’s stunted spell, have been reassured by the strength of so much of his decision-making.

The omissions of Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere for Russia felt bold calls but were justifiable. There has been no repeat of Fabio Capello’s wild selection in 2010, and no attempt to find short-term fixes, with his focus geared towards progression. Another who missed out, Alfie Mawson, may have a role in the long term, so there was also a phone call to the Swansea City defender to explain this was a tournament too soon.

Even the manner in which he dealt with Raheem Sterling’s tardy arrival at St George’s Park was impressive. There was a firm but calmly delivered reminder that such behaviour is unacceptable, a glimpse of his authoritative side. Once the forward was caught in a media storm over the tattoo of a rifle on his calf, Southgate recognised the need to be supportive. His initial intention to leave out Sterling against Nigeria was shelved. The player, potentially vulnerable, had suffered enough. This was a time to unite.

The relaxed atmosphere in which the team have undergone preparations has helped disperse anxiety which might have gripped the third-youngest squad England have dispatched to the finals. Players have spoken consistently of his calmness. “His mindset rubs off on the group,” said Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who had played under Southgate for the under-21s. “He’s good at managing players off the pitch because he has been one of us, at club and England levels. He understands us.” But, if all that equates to winning the phoney war, the early indications are promising as to how he will attack what happens next.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gareth Southgate during his playing days at Middlesbrough. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Southgate was capped 57 times over an international career that encompassed spells, sometimes very brief, under six managers, and has taken elements from each. Where he learned on the hoof having been thrust into the job at Boro – he considers the 12th- and 13th-place finishes in the top flight in his first two years as his “biggest achievement” – he has been more strategic with the national setup. Older and wiser, he had a plan.

His team were pragmatic and efficient through qualification but, once passage to the finals had been secured, he was insistent, even with time and opportunities relatively limited, the approach needed to shift. “I feel we need to expand our game to succeed at the highest level,” he had offered in his book when surveying his England career under Sven-Göran Eriksson. Yet again, he has been true to that philosophy.

The side he sends out in Volgograd will be attack-minded and bold, youthful and brimming with energy. Southgate preaches the possession-based football which, he believes, allows sides to flourish in tournaments; particularly in oppressive heat. England are far from the finished article but should be better placed to cope. There will be no stifling of intent, no sudden cramping up with caution and no awkward shoehorning of players into his lineup. He has selected a squad comfortable with the style of play demanded, as Chris Smalling discovered to his cost.

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The choice of three at the back delivered a solid platform from which a team without a stellar playmaker can tap into the qualities they do possess. If there were concerns the manager’s forte might not be on the training pitch then he hired shrewdly in Steve Holland, his right-hand man with the under-21s, whose departure constituted a significant loss to Chelsea. Holland worked with Antonio Conte’s back three in their title-winning season. Southgate played it under Terry Venables and Glenn Hoddle with England. They can switch from 3-5-2 to 3-4-3, with flexibility an asset.

“The top managers Steve’s worked with – people like José Mourinho, Antonio Conte – he can take all that knowledge and bring it to us,” added Loftus-Cheek. “Steve does a lot more of the training, while Gareth tends to do more of the tactical stuff. They work so well together.”

That ability to adapt in games will prove the acid test of Southgate’s leadership, particularly if England are struggling, but there is no reason to suppose Southgate will not rise to that task. He is strong-willed, with a clear vision of England’s future, a philosophy that struck a chord with the FA. He fought to make his playing career a success having been rejected by Southampton at 13 and almost released by Palace, before earning the respect of senior professionals in the “bear pit” that was the south London club’s Mitcham training ground. It yielded League Cups with Aston Villa and Boro, and a First Division title at Palace, but the possibility to achieve real fulfilment remains.