Gareth Southgate responds to Harry Kane’s war of words with Gary Lineker
England head coach Gareth Southgate claimed he has not been aware of Harry Kane’s back-and-forth feud with Gary Lineker as he does not value “external” opinions as much as his own.
The Three Lions’ flat display in last week’s 1-1 draw with Denmark came in for staunch criticism, with BBC Sport pundits and former England strikers Lineker and Alan Shearer labelling the performance as “s**t”.
Kane hit back at this description and called on the duo to be more positive and upbeat with their analysis of England, which has resulted in several days worth of disagreements between the two sides of the argument.
But when asked if he had an opinion of his own on this war of words, Southgate admitted he has not paid any attention to it whatsoever.
“That’s the world we are in, and I am oblivious to it. It’s not important to me at all,” Southgate said.
“What’s important to me is that I have got to guide this group of players confidently through the terrain of the tournament. We are a high-profile team with expectations and we fully understand everything we do is going to be scrutinised, so I am very comfortable living that life.
“I don’t need to engage in the external because I am my own biggest critic, and I think our players are as well. There is nothing to be gained from us that will help improve us by listening to external criticism.
“We know the world we live in there will always be external noise, but the external noise shouldn’t affect us. What’s important is the internal, we are the only ones that can perform on the pitch and the only ones that can give those performances better. Performance is what we are focusing on.
“We know what we have done well, we are very honest about that, and we know where we need to be better, we are brutally honest about that, and that’s how you work as a team.”
England take on Slovenia in their final group stage match on Tuesday night. Though they have already secured progression to the knockout rounds of Euro 2024, the Three Lions will top Group C with one last win in Cologne.
