Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer renew attack on ‘baffling’ Gareth Southgate decision

Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have launched another attack on Gareth Southgate’s team selection and tactics after England were booed off in their final European Championship group game against Slovenia.

Lineker also said he did not think Southgate had it “in him” to deploy the “right set-up” in their last-16 tie after they won Group C with a goalless draw in Cologne and said it was “baffling” that it took the manager so long to bring on Anthony Gordon.

But, speaking on the latest episode of his own The Rest is Football podcast, he stopped short of the unprecedented criticism in which he branded the side’s previous performance against Denmark as “s---” and said he was “trying to put a positive spin” on their latest display.

Dubbing the first half “really dreadful”, he said: “In the second half, I thought you could see that if this team continue to play a high press, chances will come. And we may have been playing that way because Slovenia knew that a draw would get them through. So, they were cautious and sat back a little bit. I understand that. But I saw enough to suggest that England are improving slightly.

“Now, I think there were downsides but I think there were real positives, particularly, I thought, when Cole Palmer came on.

“We were still unbalanced on the left, no question about that, and I thought it was a little baffling that he waited so long for Anthony Gordon to come on, because I think [Phil] Foden was playing there but then he was switching with [Jude] Bellingham and I don’t think that really helped either of them in a way, because they were neither here nor there.

“I’m trying to put a positive spin on it. What I did see in the second half was energy and I haven’t seen energy, apart from the first half an hour of the first game, in the other performances.

“England have got through, they’ve won the group. they might play the Netherlands in the next round but they might not.

“So, I think there’s enough there in the second half, enough there just to make me think for the first time this England team has some energy, which they hadn’t before.”

‌‘If I was a cynic, one would say one was frightened of getting criticised’

Lineker’s previous attack on England had resulted in him coming under fire and Shearer said: “If I was a cynic, one would say one was frightened of getting criticised again.”

But Lineker retorted: “Me, frightened of being criticised? Never in my life frightened of getting criticised. I’m telling it as I see it.

“I thought the first half was really dreadful and, once again, no high press, occasional couple of little bits that were really poor. I didn’t like the team selection. I thought it was incredibly conservative.”

Shearer said Southgate got his “selection wrong again” by picking Conor Gallagher in midfield after his failed experiment of playing Trent Alexander-Arnold there in the first two games.

“By his own admission, you can tell that. He took him off at half-time. That didn’t work, I thought [Kobbie] Mainoo coming on was a positive. He did well. I thought he made his substitutions too late giving Palmer, what, 20 minutes-ish?

“What’s Gordon done against him? Because, giving him two or three minutes?

“I think Gordon did more in two or three minutes on the left-hand side then we’ve shown in two-and-a-half games, I think, with forward passing, with a bit of energy, with a bit of class, bit of knowhow.”

Shearer said statistics showing how few chances England had created at Euro 2024 were “pretty damning” and that Southgate needed to make “big changes”.

He added: “What he’s tried to do in the first three games hasn’t worked. His starting line-up in three games hasn’t worked, so big changes. For me, he has to play Gordon on the left-hand side.”

Lineker said: “Tactically, I’m not saying it was very good. I don’t think it was very good at all. But I saw a little bit of a spark in the players and I think if they do get the right set-up and play high, aggressively and brave then I think they can do really well. Do I think he’ll play that way? No, I don’t, sadly.”

He added: “I’m not sure he’s got it in him.”

‌‘Bellingham had a bad night’

Lineker also questioned Southgate’s deployment of Bellingham, who he said had “a bad night” and was chasing too many “lost causes”.

“I think he’s spoken to Bellingham and Foden and said, ‘Right, OK, you keep swapping. One goes left and then one goes in the 10’.

“But that’s a strange thing to do, isn’t it, throughout the whole game?

“First half, and even in the second half, I thought sometimes Bellingham’s on the left hand side and Jude, he’s had a bad night. Having had a great opening game, he’s struggled since.

“I think he chases lost causes a lot.

“Sometimes, you can see him sprinting. I understand why because he’s so determined to help the team but I think sometimes you’ve got to reserve your energy a little bit.

“But that’s experience. He’s only 20.”