Gary Lineker says he does not believe he has ever been critical of Harry Kane ahead of England’s Euro 2024 final against Spain.
The Three Lions can end 58 years of hurt on Sunday night when they take on La Roja in Berlin, with captain Kane set to lead the line again.
England’s all-time record goalscorer has found the back of the net three times at the Euros, putting him in contention to win the Golden Boot, but his performances have been widely panned.
The striker has not looked himself at the tournament, with Lineker particularly scathing of the 30-year-old following the group stage draw with Denmark, before later calling the entire team’s performance ‘s**t’.
At the time, the England legend and Match of the Day host said: ‘Harry Kane needs to do a lot better. His movement was minimal, he didn’t look to go in behind but even when he did look to come in short, he’s just drifted short very lethargically, plodding short. And that’s not going to help.
‘When you’re a striker you have two jobs, one is scoring goals which he is brilliant at. But I think he needs his manager to say “I need more from you Harry”.
Lineker’s comments were said to have shocked the England squad and Gareth Southgate, though they were quick to say they were not listening to outside noise.
Now, Lineker has claimed he was not criticising Kane at all, writing in his BBC column that his comments had been misinterpreted: ‘I don’t think I’ve been critical of him at all, actually. I’ve only ever talked about his strengths and, not necessarily weaknesses, but the things he does and doesn’t do in his game.
‘He might not have been at his absolute best but he is still the best finisher that I think England have ever had, because he just does not miss, and he is a constant threat from pretty much anywhere.
‘All we were trying to do as a panel on TV was evaluate all of that, but sometimes newspaper journalists use pundits to ask their questions for them, because they have not really got the courage to say it themselves.
‘Instead, they will go “Gary Lineker says you weren’t very good”, which is not exactly true and I always think, “Well, say it yourself, if that is how you feel”.’
He went onto defend his general criticism of England’s early performances, adding: ‘Let’s be honest about it, England are in the final despite not playing very well when the tournament started.
‘It feels like a lot has been made of the BBC’s analysis of the team, and particularly Harry Kane, when that was happening, but all we did was say what we thought.
‘We were critical of the first few performances, but everyone was. And even the England players and manager have said since then that there was something wrong in the group games, but they are over it now and they have been improving.’
‘On the BBC, we were basically just saying that too. There were never any personal attacks at all, on Harry or anyone else, because that is not our style – but we do have to be honest about what we see.’
Lineker has softened his tone throughout the tournament as England have improved and believes that the Three Lions can banish their demons and win their first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup.