England captain Harry Kane said there was no need to panic over the Three Lions slow start to Euro 2024 as he rounded on critics back home of their performances in Germany.
Gareth Southgate’s men have taken four points from their opening two games, but have not lived up to their billing as pre-tournament favourites.
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Kane scored in Thursday’s disappointing 1-1 draw against Denmark after an edgy 1-0 win over Serbia and will round out their Group C fixtures with a clash against Slovenia on Wednesday (AEST).
However, the Bayern Munich striker was one of several England players on the end of a barrage of personal criticism from former England strikers Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer as the Three Lions’ performance against Denmark was lambasted in the media.
“I mean, you can think of all sorts of words and expletives if you like, but it was s**t,” Lineker said on The Rest is Football podcast.
Among Lineker’s other brutal calls was that England was “tactically inept”, with a game plan that was, at times, “inexplicable”.
Shearer was also pointed in his criticism of Southgate, saying: “Gareth is not getting the best out of England’s best players.
“It was very poor, it wasn’t good enough. There was no energy, no pace to the game. We got caught too many times on the ball, too many sloppy passes. The players look shattered, there’s no excuse for that.
“It was really really poor and it is concerning, absolutely.”
Kane said he understood pundits have to give their opinions but called for some perspective from former players.
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“With podcasts and things like that, people are trying to promote their own channels and sometimes the headline, because you want the most views, isn’t always what people want to see,” Kane said.
“People will do things for their own gain, that’s just life.
“First and foremost we try to ignore it, but we should try to back the English players as much as possible because we are doing all we can to make everyone, the fans and pundits proud. I know they would love nothing more if we are all celebrating after the Euros.”
Kane added he might eventually be in a similar position to Lineker and others when it comes to future punditry jobs, but urged those legends to remember they were once in the same position.
“Maybe when I’m 40 or 50 (years old), I’ll be on one of those shows trying to dig players out – I hope I’m not. It might change,” Kane said.
“But from my point of view, with the experience of players who have been there and maybe not played well in certain games and know how tough it is to play for England, maybe take a step back and see where you were and what it was like.
“I would never want to be disrespectful to any player, especially a player who has worn the shirt and knows what it is like to play for England. What ex-players or ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise is that it is very hard not to listen to it now, especially for some players who are not used to it, or some players who are new to the environment.
“I always feel like they have a responsibility. I know they have got to be honest and give their opinion, but also they have a responsibility of being an ex-England player that a lot of players look up to. People do listen to them and people do care what they say.”