GARETH SOUTHGATE has responded to Gary Lineker’s “we told you” comments over his England team selection.
The former Three Lions boss stepped down following the heartbreaking defeat by Spain in Euro 2024.
Southgate, 54, had been criticised for his team selection during the tournament.
He was dug out by Lineker for his omission of Jack Grealish from the squad and limited use of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Anthony Gordon.
The BBC presenter pointed to the changes interim boss Lee Carsely made during the Nations League win over the Republic of Ireland.
Lineker insisted that critics of Southgate would be saying “we told you” after the success of the changes.
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Southgate has responded to those comments by saying there is “no point” in him getting involved.
He told Sky: “I have shut off from everything.
“There’s no point in me talking about the team now.
“It’s for me to let other people take over, to give them the space to go and take the team on to the next challenges.
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“There’s no point in me getting involved in anything like that.”
Southgate also insisted that he is not “rushing” to make a decision on his next management job.
Southgate’s England record
Here is a look at Gareth Southgate’s record as England manager.
Overall record
- Games: 102
- Wins: 61
- Draws: 24
- Losses: 17
- Goals scored: 213
- Goals conceded: 72
What Lineker said about Southgate
Here is what Gary Lineker said about the changes Lee Carsley since replacing Gareth Southgate…
Speaking on The Rest is Football, he said: “It’s interesting as well, isn’t it, that perhaps some of the things fans were most disappointed about in the Euros – well, probably three things, maybe more.
“But everyone wanted Anthony Gordon to play on the left because we all saw a weakness and an unbalance on that side.
“Also that he can run behind players because Kane likes to come short and you’ve got to have a threat behind so he did that.
“The other thing was he [Southgate] left Jack Grealish out of the squad which a lot of people were bemused by and he’s come in and performed really well.
“And obviously, he never really trusted Trent Alexander-Arnold. In the first game Carsley has come up with all these things and a lot of us are going ‘you see? We told you’.”
He added: “I’ve got lots of opportunities, I’m very open-minded to what’s next.
“That might be in football, that might be outside of football. I’m just going to take some time, refresh, recharge and go from there.
“I think at the moment, people know that I need to get my energy back.”
Southgate’s successor, Carsely, has got off to a perfect start since taking over the senior team.
He has overseen 2-0 victories over Ireland and Finland in the Nations League.
The win over Finland saw Harry Kane mark his 100th England cap with a deadly double.
England’s Euro 2024 row with pundits
By Tom Barclay, Football Reporter
Historically, it has been the newspapers that the England team have directed their frustration at when not playing well in a major tournament.
But at this summer’s Euros it was the pundits in the firing line rather than the traditional press as Gareth Southgate’s side laboured out of a dream group.
The first half an hour of the opening 1-0 win over Serbia aside, Southgate’s struggled badly in their opening three fixtures which included poor draws against Denmark and Slovenia.
It prompted fierce criticism from England legends Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker in particular.
Shearer hammered the team for their 1-1 with the Danes on BBC commentary, claiming there was “no excuse” for the lacklustre display.
Lineker was also deeply unimpressed, commenting on his Rest is Football podcast: “I mean, you can think of all sorts of words and expletives if you like, but it was s***”.
Captain Harry Kane held a press conference a few days later ahead of the Slovenia game in which he was asked about Lineker’s X-rated verdict.
The Bayern star said: “What ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise is it’s very hard not to listen to it now, especially for some players who are not used to it or are new to the environment. I always feel like they have a responsibility as an ex-England player that a lot of players looked up to.”
Social media was also predictably awash with flak for the team and it spilled out into the stadium after the 0-0 draw with Slovenia, when boss Southgate had three empty beer cups chucked at him as he went to applaud the fans at full-time.
Southgate claimed he was “oblivious” to the pundit stick he was getting – including from ex-team-mates – but tellingly did brand the atmosphere he was working in as “an unusual environment”.
England were a last-gasp Jude Bellingham overhead kick away from a humiliating exit in the last-16 to Slovakia, continuing their underwhelming form before turning it round in extra-time.
An irked Bellingham hit out at some of “negativity” surrounding the team in his post-match press conference.
While Southgate also opened up on the personal nature of the attacks on him, saying: “I can’t deny that some of the personal nature, you know… This is a job where you get ridiculed, and your professional capability is questioned beyond belief, and I don’t think it’s normal to have beer thrown at you either.”
Southgate would go on to take England to the final, where the team lost 2-1 to Spain thanks to a heartbreakingly late strike from Mikel Oyarzabal, before stepping down the following week.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
