Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer delivered a scathing assessment of England’s victory against Slovakia at Euro 2024.

Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer pulled no punches as they both ripped into England’s victory over Slovakia at Euro 2024.

England booked their spot in the next round of the tournament following a nail-biting win over Slovakia on Sunday.

Gareth Southgate’s side trailed deep, deep into stoppage time until Jude Bellingham popped up to score a stunning goal in a moment of magic.

 

In extra-time, Harry Kane headed his side’s winner as the Three Lions avoided a huge scare.

Despite the victory in Gelsenkirchen, England fans named the player who should be dropped for their quarter-final clash against Switzerland on Saturday.

And Lineker and Shearer delivered a scathing assessment of the national team despite their Euros victory.

 

Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Lineker said the team ‘were so bad, it was untrue’ while Shearer described them as ‘rotten’ in a damning verdict.

“They were so bad, it was untrue,” said the Leicester City legend. “You can’t keep getting away with it.”

On England’s display against Slovakia, Lineker exclaimed: “God, it was so stressful watching it, wasn’t it. There was one point where Alan was so exasperated that he got up out [of] his chair.

“He said, ‘I need to walk. I need to walk’. And he walked out to the back room there and we suddenly heard from wherever he was, ‘AAAAAAAGH!!!’

 

“I’m not exaggerating.”

The Newcastle United icon slammed England’s ‘desperation’ and likened the tie to their crushing Euro 2016 elimination to Iceland.

He weighed in: “It was desperation. It was desperate. They were so bad, it was untrue. I was thinking Iceland – 2016, was it? – 2016 all over again, with much better players. It was that bad.

“England were offering nothing. Nothing at all. And I just couldn’t see where it was going to come from. And then a piece of brilliance.”

Advert

Lineker agreed with Shearer as he hailed Bellingham, who is at risk of facing a ban at Euro 2024 following a UEFA U-turn.

He continued: “It’s difficult in a way to know how to pitch the response to it, isn’t it. Because, ultimately, England are through to the quarter-finals. They found a way, through the sheer kind of determination and brilliance of Jude Bellingham at the end.

“But you can’t gloss over the problems and the performance.”

England player line-up ahead of their game against Slovakia. Image: Getty

Lineker added: “I can’t remember a performance, aside from the very, very end, where England had been so lacking.

 

“They had two shots on target in the game and one was a header. But that was it.

“They weren’t cohesive. They were disjointed. They were unbalanced yet again, as we’ve seen many times in this tournament. They played deep, they were apart, the distances from the back four to the front were way too big, they weren’t condensed in their play.

“It was as though they’d just met each other for the first time and gone on a field and tried to play football.

“They’re like lost souls. I don’t think they really know what they’re supposed to be doing, what their jobs are, how the team is supposed to be playing.”

Shearer said: “Positives? They’re through. The result. And, in knockout football, in reality, that’s all that matters.

“But there is so much more to be had from this England team. I mean, would it be wrong of me to say they’ve been rotten for four games – other than 30 minutes?”

To which Lineker replied: “There would’ve been millions and millions of people with exactly that opinion. How could you think that was a good display?”

Shearer then said: “You’re not exactly playing against good opposition. I mean, Slovakia today, for goodness sake.”