Kane’s complaints a worrying sign for England – Sadlier

Richie Sadlier believes that the England squad could be in “deep trouble” after Harry Kane hit out at former players for their criticism of the team’s performances at Euro 2024.

England began their quest for a first European Championship trophy with two tepid performances against Serbia and Denmark that drew flak from former internationals turned pundits Gary Lineker, Rio Ferdinand and Alan Shearer, among others.

Kane, who said he is fully fit amid speculation about a back injury that bothered him late in the Bundesliga season, took a swipe at the pundits by noting they never won an international trophy during their careers.

At the same time Kane also appeared to admit that the criticism is having an affect on the current squad.

Speaking on RTÉ television, Sadlier was baffled by Kane’s comments and questioned the mentality of the England squad.

He said: “If Harry Kane’s comments are reflective of how the squad actually feels about the criticism they’ve received, if it’s a window into their psyche, I think they’re in way deeper trouble than their playing performances suggest that they are.

“On the one hand he said those pundits have been part of teams in the past who’ve played poorly and they haven’t won trophies themselves. But also he said the players respect them and they listen to their views and they’re affected by it.

“What a whopper of a thing to say.

“Imagine coming out and playing as far below their standards for the last two games and then thinking that the correct way to respond to critics is to have a go at those critics or remind those critics that they’ve failed in the past, or to say ‘your criticism is actually affecting us, would you please stop?’”

Sadlier believes that any criticism England have received has been warranted, given their poor performances at the tournament so far.

“A pundit’s role isn’t to cheerlead, it’s not to be positive, it’s to critically analyse what they’re watching. If any English pundit is being positive or praising about those English players over the last two games, they’re not doing their jobs.

“It’s surprising because you think of the level he’s been playing at, how used they all are to criticism.

“The noise around footballers now is greater than it’s ever been. Why he would give it the airtime he did, and why he would actually say that the players are impacted by it, or plea for them to be more positive?”

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