Gary Lineker questioned whether problems are brewing in the England camp after a mediocre start to Euro 2024.
While the Three Lions finished top of Group C, their performances left a lot to be desired after just one win and two goals in their games against Serbia, Denmark, and Slovenia.
The imbalance of the team has been much talked about by pundits while Gareth Southgate has come under fire for his team selection. Gary Lineker, alongside Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, discussed on The Rest is Football podcast whether issues within the England camp are looming in what's been a less than impressive start in Germany.
Lineker asked Shearer whether there are there's "a problem within the England camp" and cited "few cryptic messages coming out from players in interviews." The Newcastle legend answered: "Without knowing anything at all, only because I don't think it's happened too much under Gareth.
"Which is understandable because a lot of the time they've got to a final, [or a] semi-final, but more so than it's ever happened in his time in terms of different players saying different things. It seems a bit mixed up at the minute."
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On the topic of whether the players talk among themselves about the issues they've had with performances this summer, Lineker remarked: "I'm not sure they'll pick the team, but there's no question they'll be going 'what's going on with the left-hand side' [and] 'why's Bellingham keep playing in the 10 when he's clearly a midfielder', but they will be, [but] not all together.
"It's hard to know what's going on, sometimes players might all get together or in a team meeting for example [and] air their views."
Alan Shearer believes the England players will discuss certain tactics between them (The Rest Is Football/YouTube)Shearer then chimed in: "Exactly and they're well within their rights to do that, and certainly at this tournament because for whatever reason there's no doubt the players will speak to each other and say 'why are we doing that' and the leadership group or the captain may go to the manager and say 'this is what's been said' or 'this is what we feel'."
Richards then added his take on the matter and claimed that tension within the squad be sparked by the big personalities in the camp who are struggling for game time. "If you've got big characters who are not playing, it can become very very difficult and we've all been there, someone's not playing a good game, two or three of you from the same club say 'you should be doing this', it's just the nature of football."
Match of the Day host Lineker insisted that while players will certainly not be "slagging off" each other, there will be helpful mentions of showing support for a player who may change things on the pitch if given the opportunity.
"You'll always talk amongst each other, you're not gonna go 'this is the team I'll play' – but there'll be certain things said like 'god, Palmer's unlucky not to get a game' [and] 'Gordon would be the answer on the left-hand side'," the ex-striker said.
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