After Harry Kane addressed criticism of England’s performance at Euro 2024, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have responded to the England captain.
Lineker and Shearer stood by their criticism of England’s 1-1 draw with Denmark. They had called the team’s performance lacklustre and Lineker specifically described it as “s***” in a light-hearted manner.
Kane, during a press conference, urged them to be more supportive, noting that neither of them won a major international tournament with England.
In their response on ‘The Rest is Football’ podcast, Lineker and Shearer acknowledged they would have reacted similarly if they were in Kane’s position but did not retract their comments.
Lineker said:
“I think they do it, A – to stir the pot, and B – because they are too scared to ask questions from their own selves. So, I get it, it puts Harry on the spot, but I think he actually answered it fine. There was one or two bits in there [I didn’t agree with] but it’s not easy when you are thrown that kind of thing.”
Shearer added:
“We’ve both been there as England captains when you are sat in front of the media when England have not played well at all or you as an individual have not played well. I would’ve answered the question in exactly the same way as England captain as Harry did yesterday. He just said, ‘They’re entitled to their opinion, I understand they also have a job to do’. And we do, we have to tell it how it is.”
Lineker continued:
“If we said, ‘Oh, they actually played really well’ we would be lying for a start, because they didn’t play well and Harry knows they didn’t play well. There is one bit there which I understand what he says, [when he said] ‘But they have a responsibility of being ex-England players and they should know what it’s like. It’s not like they have won anything’, and the rest of that effect.
“Fine. Fine, and he’s absolutely right. But I will say one thing, the last thing in the world we want to be is downbeat and critical. We want England to perform well on the pitch and the best punditry of all is when England play well and we are excited and enthusiastic about them so we can say, ‘This performance was great, that performance was great’. We don’t want to be critical but we have to be at times. And we did it balanced as well.”
Shearer concluded:
“I think it’s really important we never get personal, and that’s the key. I think the simple and easiest thing is, did England play well in that game against Denmark? No, they were terrible, so we have to say that. If England are brilliant, we’ll say they’re brilliant, it’s just the way it is. As a play,er you always get a right of reply on the pitch.”
England will face Slovenia on Tuesday in their final group game. A win would see them top Group C and likely face Austria in the next round. A draw could see them overtaken by Denmark. If England lose and Denmark win against Serbia, England could finish third in the group, needing to rely on being one of the best third-placed teams to progress. They could then face Portugal or the Group E winner – Belgium, Romania, Slovakia, or Ukraine – in the Round of 16.