Gareth Southgate said England 'were not there' in the brutal Denmark draw

England's legendary striker Gary Lineker has hit back at his performance against Denmark at Euro 2024, saying Gareth Southgate's side's display was “s**t” and largely the result of the manager's old tricks.

England created blood first against Denmark in Frankfurt, led by Harry Kane, but it faded as it did against Serbia on the first day of the game. The Danes duly equalized through Morten Hjulmand and looked to have a strong chance of going on to win the game despite Phil Foden hitting the post in the second half.

Southgate's conservative approach has long attracted England fans, regardless of their best results in major competitions, and Thursday's draw proved to be very low-key as the likes of Kane, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice struggled to commit to the game.

Lineker was highly critical of Kane's performance up front at the time BBC One live coverage, despite the 30-year-old scoring his 13th goal in a major tournament, and Southgate's management also came under the microscope.

Speaking of his All that's left is the Ball In the podcast, Lineker revealed how bad England's performance was in his opinion, suggesting that Southgate's tactics are out of step with the modern game and that his insistence that no player can replace the exiled Kalvin Phillips is too broad.

“I mean you can think of all kinds of words and phrases if you want, but it was sh*t,” Lineker said.

“Was it inappropriate? It's really hard to criticize Gareth Southgate because, in the England role, he changed England's fortunes in many ways.

“Having said that, he ended up getting a lot of talented players. We made the semi-final of the World Cup, the final of the European Championship, the quarter-final of the World Cup and then, honestly, we were a bit unlucky.

“He is an amazing leader, he is a person who knows how to speak, he changed the public opinion about the national team and the players. But, technically, it is the first game. [against Serbia]…and we have seen it in other competitions as well. England start well and get a goal and then everything changes, and it's almost like a lead, hold on type of tactic. And the game is on there. “

England's lack of energy and dedication in pressing Denmark's defense and midfield has been a sore point for many fans, while pundits have once again expressed their disbelief in a casual manner.

Most of England's players are used to talking about issues that affect the teams, which made Lineker wonder why Southgate is teaching the players in a different way.

“They might play it for about three minutes in a game. Are they not trained to play that?”

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“If anyone says the England team doesn't try or give 100 per cent, that's nonsense,” he added. “They're a bit lost tactically. And that's coming from the manager, I'm afraid. It's really happening. He has to make England play at the top, as a team. Because, at the moment, not as a unit.

“He said, 'I've never been able to replace Kalvin Phillips. I thought, 'Oh come on'. [Adam] Wharton could easily do that job. [Kobbie] Mainoo could do that job. If you want two holding players, Gareth, you can do that. But Bellingham can do that. Bobby Robson, Terry Venables, would have gone, 'This is what you have to do for the team. This is your job.

“Football players will always give their all. They always give their all. But you know the one thing they need? They have to know exactly what their job is. I can assure you, that's right, the players will be going, 'We need leadership from the top. And we need to be told how to play'.

“I've seen this tournament after tournament now, you have players who are unbelievably gifted. You have to be brave. You can't play worrying about your team's weaknesses. You have to play for your strong team.”

England's progress to the knockout stages of Euro 2024 is not in question, with four points on the board from two games, but a strong performance against Slovenia in the final Group C game may be necessary to offset Southgate's rising numbers. critics.

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