Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer issue response to Harry Kane's criticism of former England players' punditry (an)

The former England stars have shared their side of the story.

Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have responded to Harry Kane after the England captain criticised their punditry of England’s performances at Euro 2024.

England came under fire for their performance in a 1-1 draw with Denmark last week, with Kane’s contribution to the game in particular coming under scrutiny.

After the match, former England strikers Lineker and Shearer gave a lengthy analysis of Kane’s lack of influence in the game, describing his impact as “minimal.”

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Lineker added: “I think he [Kane] needs his manager to say, ‘Right, I need a little bit more from you, Harry’. I’d have expected that, if I’d have had that sort of performance.”

On Sunday, Kane responded to criticism from pundits at BBC Sport and other broadcasters during his press conference ahead of England’s final group match against Slovenia.

“What maybe ex-players, ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise, it’s very hard not to listen to it now, especially for young players who are not used to it or some players are new to the environment,” he said.

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The England captain argued that ex-players have a responsibility not to put too much added pressure on current players.

Now, Lineker and Shearer have responded to Kane via their Rest Is Football podcast.

“You’re a player and you sit there and it’s your turn to face the press. And at some point, one of the press says, so and so has been critical of you. And you know they’ve not heard it, I’ve not heard it,” Lineker began.

“I get it and it puts Harry on the spot, but I actually thought he answered it, answered it fine with one or two bits in there, but it’s not easy when you throw in that kind of thing.”

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Shearer added: “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.

“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.

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“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. 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.

“Journalists will then use that quote and they will go did you know so and so said this and they have obviously done that to Harry Kane yesterday. Lineker said England were s*** bla bla bla.”

“[They will say] I watched it live on my phone, what did you think? Lineker said on his podcast you were s*** and should he stick to flogging crisps?”

Lineker said: “We’ve talked about this a few times on the podcast, journalists aren’t brave enough to ask their own questions.

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“I don’t know who it was [who asked Kane the question] but he probably would have been critical himself, I think they do it a) to stir the pot and b) because they’re too scared to ask a question themselves so I get it, it puts Harry on the spot.”

England will take on Slovenia in their final match of Group C on Tuesday evening.