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Do you know who I feel sorry for? The National Theatre. Next March it opens a new run of Dear England, James Graham’s tribute to the England football manager Gareth Southgate. As things stand, the script will need the intervention of a sensitivity reader.
你知道我为谁感到遗憾吗？国家剧院。明年3月，他们将上演詹姆斯•格雷厄姆(James Graham)致敬英格兰足球队教练加雷斯•索斯盖特(Gareth Southgate)的新剧《亲爱的英格兰》(Dear England)。就目前的情况来看，这个脚本将需要一个敏感的读者的介入。
Southgate’s star is falling. After England’s nil-nil draw against Slovenia on Tuesday, English fans booed and threw empty beer cups at him. This wasn’t defeat (England proceeded to the knockout stages of the European Championships); but it still felt like betrayal.
索斯盖特的星光正在陨落。周二英格兰队零比零战平斯洛文尼亚队后，英格兰球迷对他报以嘘声，并向他扔空啤酒杯。这并不是失败（英格兰队进入了欧锦赛淘汰赛），但这仍然像是背叛。
Maybe the most bitter divorces follow the most intense love affairs. The British public once felt so let down by Tony Blair precisely because it had been so enamoured of him. So too with Southgate.
也许最痛苦的离婚是在最激烈的爱情之后发生的。英国公众曾经对托尼•布莱尔(Tony Blair)感到如此失望，正是因为他们对他如此倾心。索斯盖特也是如此。
He hasn’t been just another England manager struggling with the so-called impossible job. After taking charge in 2016, he became the sweetheart of the nation — or at least of its centrist dads. He showed that you can wear a waistcoat when you’re not at a wedding or a snooker table. Now he risks putting us off knitted polo shirts forever.
他并不是又一个在所谓的不可能的工作中挣扎的英格兰主教练。在2016年接任后，他成为了全国的宠儿——或者至少是中间派父亲们的宠儿。他展示了在婚礼或斯诺克桌上以外的场合也可以穿着背心。现在，他有可能让我们永远不再穿针织马球衫。
Our love affair was born of a particular moment. By 2016, England fans had all hope squeezed out of them. Southgate used the low expectations to relax his players. “We really probably are not going to win this World Cup,” his character tells them in Dear England.
我们的爱情故事诞生于一个特殊的时刻。到了2016年，英格兰球迷已经失去了所有的希望。索斯盖特利用了这种低期望来放松他的球员。“我们真的很可能不会赢得这届世界杯(World Cup)，”他在《亲爱的英格兰》中告诉他们。
It was also a moment when Conservative MPs were going gently insane, fuming about things like the BBC’s annual report having only one union jack. Southgate articulated a non-Brexity patriotism. He backed his players’ support for social change, writing: “I have never believed that we should just stick to football.”
这也是保守党议员们渐渐发疯的时刻，对BBC年度报告只有一面英国国旗之类的事情愤怒不已。索斯盖特表达了一种非脱欧的爱国主义。他支持球员们对社会变革的支持，写道：“我从来没有认为我们应该只关注足球。”
Results were secondary, but good: England made the World Cup semi-finals and then the final of Euro 2020. They even won a penalty shootout.
结果是次要的，但不错：英格兰进入了世界杯半决赛，然后进入了2020年欧洲杯的决赛。他们甚至赢得了点球大战。
The problem is that fans now want more. They’re no longer satisfied by players who take the knee and frolic in swimming pools on inflatable unicorns. They’re ready to win. And they suspect Southgate is tactically inadequate.
问题在于球迷们现在想要更多。他们不再满足于那些单纯下跪并在充气独角兽上嬉戏的球员。他们渴望胜利。而且他们怀疑索斯盖特在战术上的能力不足。
England have the players of the season for Europe’s top two leagues: Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham. Yet their build-up play has been as slick as Joe Biden’s debate answers; their passes as accurately targeted as Donald Trump’s fundraising emails. We’ve gone from Dear England to dear me.
英格兰拥有欧洲两大顶级联赛的赛季最佳球员：曼城(Manchester City)的菲尔•福登(Phil Foden)和皇家马德里(Real Madrid)的裘德•贝林厄姆(Jude Bellingham)。然而，他们的组织进攻就像乔•拜登(Joe Biden)的辩论回答一样流畅；他们的传球就像唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的筹款邮件一样准确。我们从亲爱的英格兰变成了我的妈呀。
Still, the abuse hurled at Southgate is part of a sad trend. In this week’s TV debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, an audience member asked mockingly: “Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister of our great country?” Does everything have to be so coarse, so complaining?
然而，对索斯盖特的辱骂是一个令人悲哀的趋势的一部分。在本周的电视辩论中，里希•苏纳克(Rishi Sunak)和基尔•斯塔默(Keir Starmer)之间的一位观众嘲笑地问道：“你们两个真的是我们伟大国家下一任首相的最佳人选吗？”难道一切都必须如此粗鲁，如此抱怨吗？
But it’s not over. At the 1990 World Cup, England drew their first game. The Daily Mail asked: “Have you ever witnessed a more embarrassing exhibition of wasted energy and spilled adrenalin in the history of ball games?” England went on memorably to reach the semis. Their manager, Bobby Robson, ended up knighted and adored.
但事情还没有结束。在1990年世界杯上，英格兰在第一场比赛中打平。每日邮报(Daily Mail)问道：“你是否见过比这更令人尴尬的浪费能量和溢出肾上腺素的球类比赛历史？”英格兰随后令人难忘地进入了半决赛。他们的经理博比•罗布森(Bobby Robson)最终被封为爵士并备受崇敬。
Southgate’s team may not be as bad as they have looked. In three matches at the Euros, they have given away no clear-cut chances from open-play; the only goal they’ve conceded is a 30-yard strike. “Defences, rather than attacks, tend to win tournaments, and England have actually been very solid,” tactical analyst Michael Cox has said.
索斯盖特的球队可能没有看起来那么糟糕。在欧洲杯的三场比赛中，他们没有给对手创造出明显的机会；他们唯一失球是一次30码的射门。“防守，而不是进攻，往往能赢得锦标赛，而英格兰实际上非常稳固，”战术分析师迈克尔•考克斯(Michael Cox)说。
Like Robson, Southgate has maintained his dignity. While the Netherlands’ coach Ronald Koeman has blamed his players for not running in the right positions, Southgate has only blamed himself. On Tuesday, the beer cups landed near him only because he had gone over to thank the fans. You feel sure he will never sell out. But if the team loses on Sunday against Slovakia, it’s possible that neither will Dear England.
像罗布森一样，索斯盖特保持了他的尊严。荷兰的教练罗纳德•库曼(Ronald Koeman)责怪他的球员没有站在正确的位置上奔跑，索斯盖特只责怪自己。周二，啤酒杯降落在他附近只是因为他走过去感谢球迷。你可以肯定他永远不会出卖自己。但如果球队在周日输给斯洛伐克，那么《亲爱的英格兰》可能也不会赢。