Gareth Southgate has admitted he was heartbroken to hear Dele Alli and Aaron Ramsdale’s recent revelations on their personal lives.
Both England players have been thrust into the limelight through football but behind the scenes, they have suffered.
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Alli gave a brutally honest interview to Gary Neville last month where he revealed he was sexually abused as a child and was forced into dealing drugs.
While Ramsdale wrote in the Players’ Tribune about his wife suffering a miscarriage days after the World Cup in Qatar concluded.
And speaking on talkSPORT to Jim White and Stuart Pearce, Southgate admitted that people had to take care not to judge players early as they do not know what is going on behind closed doors.
He said live on air: “When you are a manager or coach, you have a far better understanding of what is going on in people’s lives.
“Without knowing all of the details that Dele gave that day, I have a very good idea about his upbringing and the challenges that he had been through.
“I remember reading Paul Gascoigne’s autobiography and people would say that he wasted his talent but his view is that it was a miracle he got to where he did.
“With some of our boys and the way that their lives were when they were younger, it is actually a miracle they get as far as they do.
“So it is easy to say they are wasting their talent but none of us really know what goes on behind closed doors.
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“As coaches, you try to help and try to support. What pleased me most about listening to Dele’s story was that he had gone to rehab and he recognised that this was something that he needed to take control.
“Let’s hope, from a human level, that he can get back on track and the football will come as a part of that.”
While Ramsdale travelled with England to Qatar for the World Cup, Southgate was unaware of the anguish that would follow.
The goalkeeper was given a few days off by Mikel Arteta before returning to Arsenal and on the flight home, his wife Georgina suffered a miscarriage.
It would be one of the hardest moments of Ramsdale’s life while Southgate was left heartbroken by the news, something he did not know at the time.
He added: “As managers, you are dealing with these things more times than you think.
“I was not aware of what happened with Aaron, that is heartbreaking to hear as I met his wife in the hotel in Qatar.
“She was going through a bit of a difficult little time because she was on the frontpages of the papers for something so it is very sad to hear that post-tournament as well.”
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