21 June 2024 , 08:30
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Gary Lineker said that Gareth Southgate was "tactically inept" after England scraped a 1-1 Euro 2024 draw with Denmark.
The Three Lions looked sharp at the start of their second Group C fixture, with Harry Kane opening the scoring after 18 minutes with a cool left-footed finish past Kasper Schmeichel. But England's captain then gave Denmark an opportunity to get back into the game, completely switching off as the last ten minutes of the first half approached.
Kane gave the ball away with a careless clearance deep into England's own half, allowing Morten Hjulmand time to strike with venom from around 25 yards out. His shot sailed through a crowd of players, past Jordan Pickford and went in off the post for his first international goal for Denmark.
England struggled to get their momentum back thereafter, much to the dismay of fans watching at home and scrutinising pundits. Speaking with Micah Richards on is The Rest Is Football podcast on Friday, Linker questioned whether Southgate's approach to the game was all wrong.
He 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.
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"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, a final of a European Championships, 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 and stuff like that. He's been brilliant on that.
"But tactically, the first game...and we've seen it in other tournaments as well where England kind of start okay, and then get a goal and then everything changes. It's almost like those tactics of get a lead, hang onto it - and the game's moved on from that hasn't it?"
Lineker criticised Southgate's tactics (BBC)Lineker added that the approach is fine if you have a "not particularly talented team", citing: "That's what's frustrating isn't it?" and later said that "Denmark won the tactical battle". Lineker also admitted that he wanted to see more of a high press from England going forward, detailing how Spain executed the tactic exceptionally well to prevent Italy from making easy moves into their half later in the evening.
He said: "Why does England not play the high press? They might play it for about three minutes in a game. Are they not coached to play that? You feel a little bit guilty for Harry Kane. Can you do it with Harry Kane that way? I think you can. You've got to say to your striker Harry - however good he is - 'You've got to buy into this Harry, you don't need to do too much but it needs to come from your forward player'.
"And you could also argue 'yeah but the midfield players behind have got to buy into it and push from behind', but that's got to come from the management, and England do not play high press . The times in the Southgate reign that I've been impressed with England the most have been when they've played the high press.
"When he's done it, it's only lasted for 20 minutes, 30 minutes - maybe a half. But it's ever happened ad I don't understand why. I can't get why England play so deep, and they were stretched. And Harry just ambles back and I think you've got to say to Harry 'good as you are, you've got to be the first man of the press'. But if he's not telling him that, then you can't blame Harry Kane."
He wasn't happy with Kane's approach either (Getty Images)England remain top of Group C despite their 1-1 draw with Denmark, following a 1-0 win against Serbia in their opening game of the Euro 2024 tournament. Jude Bellingham's towering header got three points on the board for the Three Lions.
Southgate's side go into their final clash of the group stage with Slovenia on Tuesday in good stead, as the only side to have achieved victory in their cohort thus far.
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