Gary Lineker insists Southgate INSULTING England players with Phillips comments

Gary Lineker has claimed that Gareth Southgate is 'insulting' his England players with his comments on Kalvin Phillips.

Southgate has received widespread criticism for his side's performances so far at Euro 2024, with England picking up four points from their first two matches but struggling to assert their dominance in games.

After narrowly beating Serbia, the Three Lions held on for a draw with Denmark in their second match at the tournament, leaving fans and pundits scratching their heads over why the team is struggling.

Following the Denmark draw, Southgate told the media that his side have been struggling to replace Kalvin Phillips, a player who had been a regular for Southgate until he was dropped from the squad before the tournament.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Lineker slammed the Three Lions boss for his comments, insisitng it was wrong for him to have made them.

'It's insulting to some of the players that are there, and also it's wrong,' Lineker began. 'There are players in that squad that could do it.

'Even the young players he's brought, in, Adam Wharton could do it. Kobbie Mainoo could probably do it. Bellingham could play.

'The players just need instructions, players need to understand what their jobs are.'

Lineker's co-host Alan Shearer was in agreement with his fellow former England forward, also taking exception to the comments made by the England manager.

'If we've been relying on Kalvin Phillips for the last however many years, then that is very worrying to me,' he said. 'I didn't understand his comment at all.'

Lineker added: 'That was very strange. Inside he will be sick.'

Phillips was crowned England's player of the year in the 2020-21 season, but his performances declined when he joined City in the summer of 2022 and he endured a nightmare spell on loan with West Ham last season.

Often coined the perfect partner for Declan Rice, the midfielder didn't start a game for the Three Lions at the 2022 World Cup with Bellingham partnering the Arsenal man in midfield and Mason Mount playing ahead of them in three games and Jordan Henderson introduced for the last two.

Southgate said post-Denmark of Trent Alexander-Arnold: 'He's had some moments where he has delivered what we thought he would.

'We know it is an experiment and we don't have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips, but we're trying some different things and at the moment we're not flowing as we'd like, that's for sure.'

Pundtis and fans have blasted the comments since, with Lineker the latest man to question the words.

Ian Wright, speaking on ITV, had said: 'Listening to Gareth, he mentioned about Kalvin Phillips and he's the only one in the country who can play that role, I don't believe that.

'I believe Adam Wharton can play it. I think Kobbie Mainoo can play it as well. You've picked them. Now we're in a situation where it's not desperation because we've got four points, but we're in a place where we need something different, we need to change something.'

Phillips was available for selction this tournament, but Southgate opted not to take him to Germany, with his last cap coming seven months ago.

The England boss added that his side have been looking for a midfield solution 'for seven or eight years' and hailed Declan Rice as the saviour of the area of the pitch for his side.

Alexander-Arnold has played in the position for the first two games in Germany, but has been taken off for Conor Gallagher both times, suggesting the 'experiement' is all but over.

Wharton, Mainoo and Gallagher represent the other options for Southgate in the position, while, like Lineker, other have suggested that Bellingham could drop back from the No 10 role.

The Champions League winner has been playing further forward to get him closer to goal, but cries for him to drop deeper have arrived to solve more than one issue.

While it would help find a partner for Rice, it could also potentially allow Phil Foden, who has also struggled in Germany, to play centrally, or mean Cole Palmer could be introduced to the side.