Gary Lineker has called on England to part ways with Gareth Southgate after their Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain.
The Three Lions have had to wait 60 years for a major men’s trophy after goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal condemned them to a second successive European Championship defeat in Berlin on Sunday night.
Substitute Cole Palmer brought Southgate’s side level again, but Oyarzabal dramatically scored the winning goal four minutes from time.
In the last episode of The rest is football podcast praised Lineker Southgate for transforming England but claimed he was no longer the right man for the job and called for him to be replaced by a manager with a “modern, attacking style of play”.
The former striker insisted Southgate is “very defensive” and called on the FA to “pull out all the stops” for a former Premier League star as its next manager.
Gary Lineker has called for England to part ways with Gareth Southgate after defeat to Spain
Southgate’s future as Three Lions manager remains uncertain after Euro 2024 final defeat
England suffered second consecutive defeat in the European Championship final under Southgate
The 63-year-old said: ‘I think he’s the right person to bring the nation together in terms of the football team. And now maybe it’s time for someone else with a more modern, attacking style of play. Because I don’t think the game is successful anymore if you’re really defensive.’
Lineker then asked presenters Alan Shearer and Micah Richards who should replace Southgate and then said: ‘Wouldn’t you go all out for Jurgen Klopp?’
Richards replied: ‘I’d go for a bigger one – Pep’, to which Lineker replied: ‘I think we’d all love Pep, but do you think Pep is realistic?’, but Richards replied: ‘Why not?’
Of Klopp, Lineker added: ‘Klopp has been a bit out of work. He will have had a bit of rest.’
Shearer interrupted him and asked: ‘Do you really think England would go for a German manager?’
Lineker replied: ‘He’s not really German, is he? He’s half German, isn’t he, because he’s been in England for so long.’
Richards said he would love to see Guardiola succeed Southgate, but he does not want the Spaniard to leave Manchester City.
But Lineker said: ‘The point is that club managers get paid an awful lot of money. I can’t imagine the FA coughing up that much money.’
Lineker has called on the FA to ‘pull out all the stops’ for former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp
Meanwhile, Micah Richards says he would ‘love’ Pep Guardiola to succeed Southgate
Shearer called on England to go after an Englishman, saying: ‘I’m for England and English managers. Howe would be the best candidate. There’s a lot going on at Newcastle. The guys who appointed Eddie have now left.’
Lineker said: ‘He’s a front-foot manager. He’s young. He’s got a real energy in his football.’
Earlier in the episode, Lineker had pointed to Southgate’s style of play and the style of play that a number of players in the squad are used to at club level, as a reason why England should be looking for a new manager.
Lineker said: ‘I think he was the right man at the right time, but I think the emergence of young, exciting, progressive footballers who were pressing for their clubs probably didn’t suit him and he didn’t suit them. They looked a bit lost and disjointed.’
Lineker subsequently claimed he had been ‘used’ by the media to ‘drive a wedge’ after he called England ‘s***’ following their 1-1 draw with Denmark in the group stage.
Lineker suggested Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane could retire from international football
Harry Kane, who was taken off after an hour after yet another ineffective performance, was also a hot topic on the podcast, with Lineker suggesting the Bayern Munich striker could retire from international football.
‘Part of [looking to] the future in my mind was what England do, what Harry Kane do? He wasn’t himself in this tournament,’ he added.
“He’s in his 30s now, Micah. When I was 30, 31, my legs started to wear out.
‘I retired from international football at the age of 32. At the age of 31, that happened [legs going] and it’s terrible, it’s terrible.’
Lineker compared Euro 92 – his last major tournament – to this summer’s edition for Kane.
‘I felt [it] “That last season – that’s one of the reasons I decided to retire from international football, to finish my career in English football and move to Japan,” Lineker said.
‘I felt my legs going. I was poor in that last [major tournament, Euro 92].
‘I was made a martyr because Graham Taylor took me out, but he had every right to take me out because I had done my best. That happens to some people.
‘Maybe he was just tired or he was carrying something small that affected him and that [his legs going] may not be the case.
“But I wonder. What is he, almost 31 now? That’s exactly when I started feeling that.”