England star Jarrod Bowen was left taken aback after finding out Gary Lineker labelled England’s performance against Denmark as ‘s***’.
The Three Lions laboured to a 1-1 draw against the Euro 1992 champions, which has still left them sitting top of Group C with four points.
But England have so far failed to justify why they are considered to be one of the favourites at Euro 2024, leading them to be subject to heavy criticism.
And ex-England striker Lineker, who won the World Cup Golden Boot in 1986, stated that it was a ‘s***’ display in Thursday’s clash in Frankfurt when speaking on his The Rest Is Football Podcast.
Appearing in the pre-match press confernce ahead of Tuesday night’s game against Slovenia – live on talkSPORT – West Ham forward Bowen was asked for his view on Lineker’s X-rated reaction.
To which Bowen, who has came off the bench in both group fixtures, said: “I didn’t know it was as strong as that!
“I thought his podcast might be a little more PG! But no, I wasn’t aware of that.
“I only saw myself on social [media] when I first got into the squad and there was a lot of eyebrows raised, so for me, that was one thing to go, ‘Right, I’m not going to have a look anymore.’
“But no, I didn’t understand that he [Lineker] said that, but they’re [pundits] more than entitled to speak about the games, they’ve played for their country, they’ve played at a high level.
“So they debrief and speak about the games, it’s a major competition for our country that’s got everyone speaking, yes we know we can get to so many more better levels in terms of quality.
“But the sign of a really good side is when you’re not playing well as well as you know you can be, you make sure you don’t lose the game, and we’re sat here with four points.
“There’s a lot of noise, a lot of uproar as if we’re sat here with two games, two defeats, bottom of the table, but the reality is, we’re top of the table and have lots of confidence going into the last group game knowing we need to win the game, and we look forward to that challenge.”
And Bowen then rejected claims from fans and pundits that Southgate has adopted a defensive approach – an argument he heard at club level under David Moyes.
Insisting that’s not the case whatsoever, he remarked: “No. It’s that other part of the footballing world where football is a game of opinions and they’ve got to speak about the England game.
“And I get it, but both managers have been really solid with the ball, and I think that’s the best thing, because you don’t concede the goals with the quality, I’m talking from West Ham-level and here as well, you know you can win the game.
“When I was at West Ham and I used to hear it, it was frustrating for me.
“Because these are two great managers, and they have achieved so much.”
He added: “When I was at West Ham it was always frustrating being asked the question, ‘Do you want to win the game 6-5?’
“And it might be good for spectators, but for players, it’s not as nice, but I’ve always said it when David Moyes was manager, we was so good without the ball.
“And then the goals we used to score and the games that we used to win from playing that way, it worked, so for me, yeah, it’s very naive I’d say.”
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