Harry Kane has told Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer to remember their responsibility as former England players before putting the boot into the team’s displays at Euro 2024.
Kane said criticism from former Three Lions stars had infiltrated the camp despite his own and Gareth Southgate’s determination to ignore commentary on England’s campaign.
Ex-England striker Lineker and Shearer have been among the most prominent critics of the tepid displays that have brought a 1-0 win over Serbia and 1-1 draw with Denmark.
“I would never want to be disrespectful to any player, especially a player who has worn the shirt and knows what it is like to play for England,” Kane said.
“But what 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 are new to the environment.
“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 and do care what they say.
“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.
“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. Building the lads up with confidence would be a much better way of going about it.”
Lineker’s remarks that England were “lethargic, dour, you can think of all sorts of words, expletives if you like” against Denmark came on his own podcast, where Shearer also weighed in.
Kane said he was not worried about criticism of his own game ahead of England’s last Group C fixture against Slovenia on Tuesday, having also started previous tournaments slowly.
“If I’m honest with myself, have I played the best that I know I can? No,” he added.
“But I didn’t score in the group stage at the World Cup, I didn’t score in the group stage at the Euros [in 2021], so from my point of view it’s a bonus to be one goal ahead.
“I’d always judge myself first and I know I can play better and I know a lot of players in the team think that we can all play a little bit better.
“I don’t panic. I don’t get too high or too low. I’ll keep doing what I do and just go onto the next one.”