- Gary Lineker urged Gareth Southgate to bring in one star for the Netherlands
- Alan Shearer thinks another player will return to the fold for the semi-finals
- LISTEN to It’s All Kicking Off! EUROS DAILY: Will England have a ‘lightbulb moment’ and stop muddling through?
Gary Lineker has urged Gareth Southgate to start Luke Shaw in England’s Euro 2024 semi-final showdown with the Netherlands.
Shaw has not started a game in Germany and his substitute appearance against Switzerland was his first outing for club or country since February due to injury.
However, with England having to get by with makeshift left-back Kieran Trippier so far, there have been calls for Manchester United‘s dedicated left-side operator to come in.
Meanwhile, Alan Shearer believes Southgate should drop one of England’s better performers from the victory on penalties over Switzerland on Saturday.
The Three Lions made life hard for themselves with a 1-1 draw but scored all five of their spot-kicks, with Jordan Pickford producing a save to help them book a tie with Ronald Koeman‘s orange army.
‘I think Shaw will start as left wing-back, think we will stick with the same system,’ Lineker said on The Rest is Football.
‘I think it would be slightly odd to go back to a system that wasn’t working and have the same problem with the balance on the left-hand side which he [Gareth Southgate] never addressed in four matches.
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‘Then he did address, even though it was Trippier, and he’s not naturally left-footed, but you put Shaw in there and he’s got a lovely balance.
‘He’s not played football for an awfully long time but he came on and looked fine.
‘Now I know it is different when you come on but I think you are better off starting him and seeing how much you can get out of him and then changing it when people are tired and getting some fresh legs because if you bring him on and he breaks down then you’re in trouble. So I think he will start.’
On the subject of Harry Kane, who has been criticised for a lack of involvement at Euro 2024, Lineker added that England do not have to play him for a full-match and shouldn’t be scared to bring on Ollie Watkins or even start the Aston Villa man.
Meanwhile, Shearer thinks that Southgate will bring Marc Guehi back into the fold despite Ezri Konsa’s strong performance against Switzerland – a point on which Lineker agreed.
Guehi has arguably been one of the stand-out players at the Euros for England but Konsa did himself every favour with how he played in the quarter-finals, with his competition out suspended.
Mail Sport’s Craig Hope felt Konsa had done enough to keep his place in his player ratings after England advanced.
Shearer said: ‘I think he will bring [Marc] Guehi back in for [Ezri] Konsa, I don’t think he will (on Shaw starting)’.
‘We were slightly better in the last game but even though we improved I think England have got a couple more gears to go. When you look at the four teams in the semi-finals there’s only one team that has played well.
‘I think he will bring Guehi back, he is loyal Gareth Southgate.’