Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer fire criticism at Gareth Southgate's tactics and player management at Euro 2024

Former Leaicester City striker Gary Lineker has levelled criticism at Gareth Southgate for what he perceives as a slight against England's players during Euro 2024.

The post-mortem of England's dismal showing against Denmark their most disappointing display in a major competition since the infamous loss to Iceland at Euro 2016 is ongoing. Despite Harry Kane putting the Three Lions ahead, the team's performance was lacklustre and they were lucky to come away with a draw.

Southgate's decision to deploy Trent Alexander-Arnold in the midfield backfired and it's expected that this tactic will be abandoned for the upcoming group match against Slovenia on Tuesday. Following the match, Southgate made an odd reference to Kalvin Phillips, who had been a key player but whose form at club level has recently dipped.

"We have been trying to find a solution in midfield for seven or eight years," the England manager remarked. "If we hadn't had Declan Rice for the last few years, I don't know where we'd have been."

"Unfortunately, Kalvin [Phillips] wasn't available for us for this tournament and Hendo [Jordan Henderson] the same, so we're trying to find something different.", reports the Mirror.

Lineker and Alan Shearer, speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, expressed surprise at the mention of Phillips. Shearer commented: "I didn't like Gareth's comments after the game in terms of Kalvin Phillips."

Lineker concurred, saying: "It's insulting to some of the players who are already there, and also it's wrong because there are players in that squad that could do it."

"Even the young players he's brought in could do it. Adam Wharton could do it, Kobbie Mainoo could probably do it. But the players need instructions, they need to understand what their jobs are."

Shearer concurred, stating: "They absolutely can. If we've been relying on Kalvin Phillips for the last whatever years, then that is very worrying for me. I don't think we have [been relying on him]. I didn't understand his comment at all."