STRIKE OUT
Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer respond to Harry Kane after he reminded them they never won anything with England
See what X-rated remark kicked off the storm
GARY LINEKER and Alan Shearer have responded to Harry Kane biting back at their X-rated England blast.
BBC footie pundit and ex-Three Lions ace Lineker called the team’s 1-1 draw against Denmark “s***” in his podcast.
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Match of the Day host Lineker, who was top scorer at the 1986 World Cup, slammed the team’s performance in his The Rest is Football podcast with former Man City ace Micah Richards.
Stressing how he thought the England manager Gareth Southgate was “a f***ing great human being”, he then said of the draw: “I mean, you can think of all sorts of words and expletives if you like, but it was s***.”
Shearer had also torn into the side after the drab performance and insisted there can be “no excuses” for a Euro 2024 display with "no energy, no pace".
But captain Kane reminded both that the England teams they played for “won nothing” when quizzed about their remarks as he warned of the impact on the morale of the younger players when quizzed on the “s***” remark.
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Now the MOTD duo had their chance to respond as they released their latest podcast episode.
After Lineker had claimed it was journalists trying to stir things, straight-talking Shearer, 53, said: “We've both been there as England captains, when you've sat in front of the media, when England have not played well at all, or you as an individual have not played well.
“And I would have 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.”
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Lineker jumped in and said: “Could you imagine if we went on and said, ‘well, actually, I thought they played really well’.
"We'd be lying for a start, because they didn't play well. And Harry knows they didn't play well.
“And yeah, there's one bit there, which I understand where he says, but they have a responsibility as ex-England players, and they should know, they know what it's like.
"It's not like they've ever won anything or worse to that effect. That's fine.
SunSport's Dan King on why Luke Shaw's return is so big for England
“Fine, fine, 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 the England team to perform well on the pitch.
“The best punditry of all is when England play well, and we're excited and we're enthusiastic about them, we say, this performance was great, that performance is great.
"We don't want to be critical, but we have to be sometimes.
“We have to say, but we did it balanced as well.”
Shearer interrupted and said: “And I think it's really important we never get personal.
“And that's the key, I think we're always... It might have been that word s*** that was…”
Explaining the “s***” comment, Lineker continued: “Yeah, it might have been, but it was kind of...
"But it was the way I said it as well was basically, it was a poor performance, it was there was kind of lethargy or whatever.
“I think Micah said something about, I think we've run out of words about how the performance...
“I said, yeah, whatever words you say, whether you could just... Or expletive like s***. It was kind of that kind of context. But yeah, I understand that.”
Shearer replied: “I think the simple and easiest thing is, have England played well or did they play well in that game against Denmark? No, we're terrible. So we have to say that.
ENGLAND vs DENMARK RATINGS
ENGLAND stumbled to a drab 1-1 draw with Denmark.
Here's how SunSport's Tom Barclay rated the Three Lions team.
Jordan Pickford: 6
Looked a little jittery early doors, though there was nothing he could do about Morten Hjulmand’s corker and he made a decent parry after the break.
Kyle Walker: 7
Made England’s opener by racing round a sleeping Victor Kristiansen - he’ll be having nightmares of that forevermore - and teeing up Kane via a deflected cross.
John Stones: 6
OK but you have got to wonder how fit he feels having barely played for Man City in the second half of the season, plus his injury and illness issues over the last month.
Marc Guehi: 8 and my star man
Really encouraging again from the Crystal Palace centre-back, looking sharp with his interceptions and assured in distribution.
Kieran Trippier: 6
Like Stones, he was fine, but England really need Luke Shaw back ASAP because having no natural left-footer at left-back is a problem.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 5
This experiment of playing Trent in midfield is far from convincing, especially when his passing was off it like it was here, barring one good ball to Saka. Subbed on 54 minutes.
Declan Rice: 5
Had to cover so much ground as England dropped worryingly deep in the first half and also lost it a few times in front of his back four.
Bukayo Saka: 7
Not quite as electric as his first half against Serbia, but another solid showing from our right winger who has been our most consistent attacker across the two games.
Jude Bellingham: 6
Nowhere near the majestic display he put in against Serbia and one of many who looked tired.
Phil Foden: 7
Was far more involved than against Serbia - although that was not hard - and had a few dangerous efforts from range, including one that smacked the post after the break.
Harry Kane: 6
Netted his 64th goal for his country with an opener he could not really miss, but then gave the ball away from Denmark’s leveller. Surprisingly subbed.
SUBS:
Conor Gallagher (on for Trent, 54): 7
Vital clearance on the stretch when Christian Eriksen was lurking and was not afraid to put his foot in.
Ollie Watkins (on for Kane, 70): 6
Played in by Bellingham’s lovely ball after coming on but could not finish from an acute angle.
Jarrod Bowen (on for Foden, 69): 6
Copped a nasty tackle which saw Joakim Maehle booked.
Eberechi Eze (on for Saka, 69): 6
On for his tournament bow though he was rarely involved.
“If England are brilliant, we'll say they're brilliant. That's just the way it is, isn't it? You know what it is though?
“As a player, you always get the right to reply on the pitch.”
Shearer continued: He'll [Kane] be the first to tell you. The England team haven't played well other than the first 35 minutes of the first game against Serbia. So I have no problem with what he said and I wouldn't take anything back.
“We said England were really poor. And I think the vast majority of the journalists, well, all of them and the vast majority of the country and even the boys themselves in the squad will know they were awful against Denmark.
“There wasn't that hardly any positive at all. But we also said we did do that. One spark and that could easily kick them off and start the tournament. So I have no problem with it at all.”
That led to Lineker stating; “It's never personal. You know, we've actually said, we think really it's come from the top, not the players because they look a little bit lost on the pitch tactically. Harry said it himself cryptically sort of, didn't he?
“We don't really know how we're doing it, how we're pressing as a team. So, you know, he can't ever say.”
To which Shearer added: “He even said it again yesterday. He said that it sort of confused us a bit when both teams playing three at the back and we struggled to play against three at the back and that might change against Slovenia because they may go in with a four.
Pundits and legends lay into England
ENGLAND's lifeless display in the 1-1 draw with Denmark left pundits and legends queuing up to take a dig at Gareth Southgate's team.
Here's the best of what was said…
ALAN SHEARER
“Awful performance, particularly after going up in the game.
“I don’t think one England player can look at themselves and say, ‘I’ve done my job tonight’.
“England were all over the place, far too sloppy in possession, gave the ball away too much and got caught too many times.
“There was no energy, no pace, no guile — Southgate is simply not getting the best out of England’s best players.
“It’s concerning and Gareth will get some serious questions.
“You saw England players lying on their backs — they look absolutely shattered but there’s no excuse for that.”
GARY LINEKER
The BBC host called the performance “lifeless and tepid”.
On Harry Kane he said: “He needs his manager to ask more of him. I would have expected that if I’d put in that kind of performance.”
RIO FERDINAND
“The players don’t look the same as they do for their clubs. It is a big concern.”
ROY KEANE
“Courage and bravery, we're not really seeing it.
“There's something amiss with the balance. Bellingham is waving his arms.
“This is a big test for Gareth. It looks like he's overthinking things.”
JAMIE CARRAGHER
"My big worry watching this and for the rest of the tournament?
"England look absolutely knackered. They can’t get close to the ball.
"The surest sign of fatigue is dropping deep.
"Declan Rice is having to cover so much ground. No-one can convince me this is a strategy."
JACK WILSHERE
"It’s strange that we have taken the lead in both games so far, yet instead of it settling us down and giving us the confidence to play, we have failed to take control.
"But what was most worrying was that Denmark had a clear way of playing — while we didn’t."
“And I felt, well, I'm not quite sure of those comments because England, the draws been made for a while now, so I'm sure they've been planning to play against a three.
“So even those words were slightly worrying, I guess, but you always get the right replies, players and the team, you go in the next game, you win the game and you just carry on and move on. That's tournament football.”
Lineker then concluded: “And we know what we want to do. We want to, well, we're not doing, obviously, Slovenia game, but we'll be watching it and what we want and then we'll do punditry after it. And both on TV and here.
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“And what do we want? We want a great performance. We want to talk, we want to eulogise, we want to get excited about the fact that England are playing well.
“But I think, you know, but the comments behind it all, it suggests a lack of tactical nous and the players, if the players then were a bit confused, that is concerning.”
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