‘Absolute crap what you’ve said’ – Ex-England assistant Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink defends Gareth Southgate in fiery debate

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink refuted Andy Goldstein’s suggestion England wouldn’t have beat Mexico with Gareth Southgate.

The Three Lions overcame a partisan crowd and Jarell Quansah’s red card to secure a famous 3-2 win over the co-hosts at the Azteca Stadium in the round of 16.

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England’s thrilling victory was masterminded by Thomas Tuchel, who was announced as Southgate’s replacement in October 2024.

It was a result Goldstein simply could not see Southgate orchestrating and he was sure to let Hasselbaink, who worked as an assistant under the ex-England international, know.

But Hasselbaink wasn’t having a bar of it.

“Absolutely crap, what you’ve just said,” Hasselbaink clapped back on talkSPORT Drive.

Goldstein: Southgate would ‘never go for it’

Despite the Chelsea hero’s strong reply, Goldstein doubled down on his verdict and took aim at Southgate’s supposed defensive tactics.

“Under Gareth Southgate, and I think anyone that knows football will agree, when you watch his style of football, he will never go for it,” Goldstein said.

“He always played too defensive. He played with (Kalvin) Phillips and Declan Rice. He was always worried about losing rather than trying to win the game.”

Goldstein added he felt Southgate ‘didn’t have what it takes as a manager to get us over the line’, which is why the Football Association (FA) felt compelled to land Tuchel, who has won 11 trophies throughout his coaching career.

Goldstein’s harsh criteria for managerial success

The Drive co-host then declared Southgate could not be declared a success, at least by his own strict criteria.

“Any manager at any level, if they don’t win a trophy, they’re not successful. That is a fact,” Goldstein said.

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Goldstein’s argument left Hasselbaink laughing in disbelief and even prompted co-host Darren Bent to interject, as he also disagreed.

But Hasselbaink was quick to point out that given England’s lengthy trophy drought, their expectations of winning the World Cup are ‘too high’.

“Where France is now, it didn’t take them two years, it was a process,” Hasselbaink said.

“And it was a process from Spain.

“Somebody has to go through that process, and Gareth has started that process. Now it’s up to Tuchel to finish that process. So you can’t say he was not good enough.”

Despite Hasselbaink’s passionate defence of Southgate, who led England to their first final in a major tournament since 1966, Goldstein refused to share the same view.

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“I don’t know what this love affair with Southgate is,” Goldstein said.

“As a manager, if you look at his credentials where it says honours, it says zero.

“We need a winner in charge. The FA agree with me, that’s why they’ve gone out and got one. That’s the difference.”