Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he understands why two England stars would be “upset” over what Gary Lineker has said about the Three Lions so far.
England are one of the tournament favourites at Euro 2024 and the Three Lions kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 win over Serbia in Group C.
Despite claiming all three points against Serbia in their Euro 2024 opener, England were far from impressive with their overall display at the Veltins-Arena.
However, Gareth Southgate’s men dropped costly points last week after Denmark held the Three Lions to a 1-1 draw at the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt.
Harry Kane had fired England into the lead in the 18th minute, but Morten Hjulmand’s stunning strike pulled Denmark back into the contest in the 34th minute.
England offered very little against an impressive Denmark side, with even England captain Harry Kane being pulled off in the 70th minute for Ollie Watkins.
The Three Lions remain top of Group C and are two points clear of Denmark and Slovenia, but England have faced mounting criticism over their performances so far.
England face Slovenia on Tuesday evening at 8pm UK time in their Group C clash, with Southgate unable to afford any further slip-ups in his side’s campaign.
What did Lineker say about England?
Gary Lineker pulled no punches towards England and went as far as to claim that the Three Lions’ performance against Denmark was “s**t” on his podcast.
The 63-year-old former England striker was also critical of Harry Kane and claimed the Bayern Munich striker “needs to do a lot better.”
Kane made his feelings perfectly clear on hearing what former players, including Lineker and Alan Shearer, have had to say about England’s performance.
“What ex-players have 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 who are new to the environment,” he said at a recent press conference.
“I always feel like they have a responsibility. I know they have got to be honest and give their opinion but they also have a responsibility as an ex-England player that a lot of players looked up to. People do care about what they say and people do listen to them.
“Everyone has got their opinion but the bottom line is we have not won anything as a nation for a long, long time and a lot of these players were part of that as well, so they know how tough it is.”
Ferdinand on Lineker and England stars
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Rio Ferdinand admitted that he could sympathise with the likes of Kane and Declan Rice over the comments that Lineker made.
“I understand why Harry Kane and Declan Rice, who have been the ones [to speak publicly], are upset,” he said on Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE.
“I would be upset; I would probably come out like this or I would ring the person.
“I think that’s the word that’s really tipped them over the edge: ‘s**t.’ Because they probably don’t expect that and it’s put them on the back foot, thinking, ‘He’s played for our country, he’s been in our shoes.’
“I get that. Maybe I wouldn’t have used that word and said, ‘We’ve been s**t.’ But every fan in the country has said that word but because you’re held to a higher esteem and you’re an ex-player and we’re in the positions that we are because of our careers, maybe that’s something you look at and dance around that word a little bit.”
Ferdinand added: “I’ve come in here not to defend them but I have ended up defending them because I’m looking at myself in their shoes.
“There a fine line and there are certain words that will trigger you that make you think, ‘I expect better from them and I’m going to tell them.’
“But what I wouldn’t be doing is expecting a pat on the back for bad performances.
“I’m not glossing over any bad performances; I want this team to do well. You can’t expect me to sit up there on TV and talk some made gibberish when the whole nation knows exactly what’s happened and the team hasn’t played well.”