OPINION: Gareth Southgate had taken the Three Lions as far as he could - but should be remembered for changing the culture and restoring English pride

The best team in the tournament, the best team in the final, took the trophy back to Spain.

Were they the best team, man for man, on paper? Not for me.

England were worthy favourites heading into the competition but, for whatever reason, they flattered to deceive from start to finish.

Which is why Euro '24 will represent another huge missed opportunity for England.

The vast majority of the tournament was difficult to watch as some of the most talented players we've ever produced struggled to get out of first gear.

Gareth Southgate, on the sidelines, unable to rally the troops...seemingly too reactive, too passive, too cautious to turn things on its head.

And he's fallen on his sword, with England now looking for a new man to take them to the next World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA.

Make no mistake, though, Southgate leaves with his head held as high as can be.

The progress England have made - on and off the field - during his eight years in charge has been incredible.

Think back to how things were in 2016...Roy Hodgson, Iceland, laughing stock, Sam Allardyce...yep, grim.

With no-one else wanting the job, Southgate stepped up and brought back the pride in the shirt.

He rebuilt the bond between the England camp and the England supporters, opening the doors to the media, removing the 'them and us' feeling that had been there for years.

Creating a culture that means his successor will have a much smoother introduction to the job than he had.

On the field, his record of two finals, one semi and one quarter from four tournaments is the best of any manager we've ever had.

The only man to lead us to a major final on foreign soil.

A penalty shoot-out and a late winning goal away from becoming only the second England manager to win a trophy.

As good as his achievements have been, though, it was absolutely the right time to go.

There were very visible signs during the tournament - in the stands, on social media, in the media - that he'd 'taken England as far as he could'.

God, I hate that phrase, but in this case it's bang on the money.

Narrowly unable to take the final - and most important - step to silverware, the only way from here was probably down.

The first bad result - or even bad performance - in the next round of qualifying would have reopened old wounds, and he deserves so much more than to leave on terms other than his own.

So who now? Well that's the million dollar question, which hopefully the 'Southgate out' brigade will have thought about.

The list of possibles is as depressing and uninspiring as England's performances over the last month or so.

Any top club manager you'd want to do the job would be unlikely to want to move into international management.

Leaving a long list of names who've achieved very little in relative terms.

Certainly not compared to what Southgate has in the last eight years.

Assuming throwing money at a Jurgen Klopp wouldn't work, I wonder if Arsene Wenger might be mentioned in the corridors of power at the Football Association.

Sure, he's been out of the game for a few years - by choice - but there would be few more qualified candidates. A proven winner, who plays football the right way.

That's for another day, though. In the meantime, thanks for the memories, Gareth. Who came closer than anyone in my lifetime to bringing it 'home'.