Harry Kane has hit back at Gary Lineker by telling him to remember he did not win anything with England before calling the current team’s performances “s***”.
England captain Kane urged his predecessor to consider the impact his words can have, especially on younger and newer players, and to realise that it can be impossible to ignore stringent criticism now.
Lineker and fellow pundit Alan Shearer were outspoken in their verdicts of England after the 1-1 draw with Denmark on both the BBC coverage and a podcast, and Kane believes they should have spoken with more responsibility and tried to be more constructive.
He said: “What ex-players or ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise it is very hard not to listen to it now, especially for some players who are not used to it or some players who are new to the environment.
“I always feel like they [pundits] have a responsibility – I know they have got to be honest and give their opinion but also they have a responsibility of being an ex-England player that a lot of players look up to that. People do listen to them and people do care what they say.”
Lineker was part of the England team who reached the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup but Kane was part of a team who emulated them 28 years later and then played in the final of Euro 2020 as Gareth Southgate’s side have come the closest to lifting a trophy of any since Alf Ramsey’s 1966 World Cup winners.
And Kane added: “The bottom line is we haven’t won anything as a nation for a long, long time and a lot of these players were part of that as well and they know how tough it is. So it is not digging anyone out. It is just the reality that they do know it is tough to play in these major tournaments and tough to play for England. I would never disrespect any ex-player.
“All I would say is, remember what it is like to wear the shirt and that their words are listened to. Some of the lads, I don’t know how many, but we do hear it. We all want to win a major tournament and I am sure they want us to win a major tournament, and being as helpful as they can and building the lads up with confidence would be a much better way of going about it.”