England’s legends are at loggerheads over the performance of the current crop of Three Lions in the ongoing UEFA European Championships.
England, who boast some of the world’s best footballing talents and have done so for decades, have not won anything of repute since 1966, when they hosted and won the FIFA World Cup.
Being the overexposed side that they are, everybody always has a say about how they have fared and how they should be faring. Chief among the critics and commenters is their past players like Gary Lineker, who also follow these talents in their local league and across Europe.
Their current outing has been one for the negative history books and although they are leading their group, they have not shown the winner’s mentality that many expect a team of their quality to show. This is what Lineker opines, especially after their performance against Denmark.
The former Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur striker was scathing in his remarks, however, calling their outing against the Danes “sh*t”. This comment did not sit well with Declan Rice and Harry Kane, two key figures in the current Three Lions iteration and they made this known in two separate interviews, albeit in less colourful words than Lineker chose to use.
Now, they have Rio Ferdinand, a former England legend like Lineker on their side in this fight.
The multiple-time Premier League winner who played 81 times for England between 1997 and 2011 and participated in three World Cups for the team, believes that Lineker, who was in the era of Three Lions before his, was out of line with his criticism of the current crop.
“I understand why Harry Kane and Declan Rice, who have been the ones [to speak publicly], are upset,” Ferdinand said on his podcast. “I would be upset, I would probably come out like this or I would ring the person.”
“I think that’s the word that’s really tipped them over the edge: s***. Because they probably don’t expect that and it’s put them on the back foot, thinking “he’s played for our country, he’s been in our shoes.”
“I get that. Maybe I wouldn’t have used that word and said “we’ve been s***”. But every fan in the country has said that word but because you’re held to a higher esteem and you’re an ex-player and we’re in the positions that we are because of our careers, maybe that’s something you look at and dance around that word a little bit.”
Lineker, however, has stood by his criticism.
