Gareth Southgate told ‘England were s**t’ in brutal assessment of Denmark draw

Legendary England forward Gary Lineker has pulled no punches in his assessment of the performance against Denmark at Euro 2024, claiming the display of Gareth Southgate’s side was “s**t” and largely a result of the manager’s archaic tactics.

England drew first blood against Denmark in Frankfurt, taking the lead through Harry Kane, but they shrunk into their shell much like they did against Serbia on matchday one. The Danes deservedly levelled through Morten Hjulmand and looked far more likely to go on and win the game despite Phil Foden hitting the post in the second half.

Southgate’s conservative approach has long drawn the ire of England’s supporters, irrespective of their vastly improved results at major tournaments, and Thursday’s draw seemingly marked a new low as the likes of Kane, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice struggled to impose themselves on the game.

Lineker was particularly critical of Kane’s performance up front during BBC One’s live coverage, despite the 30-year-old scoring his 13th goal at a major tournament, and Southgate’s management has also come under the microscope.

Speaking on his The Rest is Football podcast, Lineker pointed out just how bad England’s performance was in his opinion, suggesting Southgate’s outdated tactics are not in tune with the modern game and that his insistence that there’s no player capable of replacing the exiled Kalvin Phillips is wide of the mark.

“I mean, you can think of all sorts of words and expletives if you like, but it was sh*t,” Lineker said.

“Was it tactically inept? It’s really hard to be critical of Gareth Southgate because, overall in the England role, he’s turned England’s fortunes around in many ways.

“Having said that, he’s kind of ended up adopting a really talented bunch of players. We’ve done a semi-final of a World Cup final, a final at the European Championship, quarter-final of the subsequent World Cup where, to be honest, we were a little bit unlucky.

“He’s an amazing leader, he’s a great communicator, he’s transformed the public’s opinion of the national team and the players. But, tactically, the first game [against Serbia]…and we’ve seen it in other tournaments as well. England kind of start OK and then get a goal and then everything changes, and it’s almost like the kind of tactics of, get a lead, hang onto it. And the game’s moved on from that.”

England’s lack of energy and commitment to pressing…