Trent Alexander-Arnold responds to Gary Lineker’s criticism of England after BBC presenter branded the team’s performance ‘s***’ at Euro 2024

Trent Alexander-Arnold has addressed Gary Lineker’s criticism of England during their Euro 2024 campaign.

The Three Lions made it all the way to the final in Germany before losing to Spain, but their road to Berlin was far from plain sailing, with the team struggling badly in the group stage.

After struggling to a 1-0 win over Serbia in their opening match, England were held to a 1-1 draw by Denmark and Lineker labelled the performance ‘s***’ on his The Rest is Football podcast.

Following the brutal criticism, England captain Harry Kane hit back at Lineker as he called for former players to remember what it was like to represent their country and be more responsible with their words, and Alexander-Arnold has now given his own verdict on Lineker’s rant.

‘I mean, we all seen and heard that and felt it,’ he told The Mirror.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has responded to Lineker’s criticism of the team during the Euros

‘We all felt the same way in terms of, we know we can be playing better. We know we can be performing better. It’s never nice for people to point it out, but everybody deep down knows it within ourselves too. So, it wasn’t something that we weren’t already thinking anyway, it wasn’t anything new. 

‘We spoke about it as a team too, that we needed to improve. If we wanted to get far into the tournament, we needed to be playing better. We needed to be better in front of goal and have better performances. 

‘I think some players may have used it as motivation, some players may have just ignored it. Some players may have used it in different ways, but, no matter what, we understood that we needed to improve.’

The Three Lions did get better as the tournament progressed, edging past Slovakia, Switzerland and the Netherlands to reach the final.

But they did not have enough to overcome Spain as they were beaten 2-1 by Luis de la Fuente’s men.

Following the heartbreaking defeat that ensured England’s 58 years of hurt will continue, Gareth Southgate stood down from his position as manager after eight years in charge.

Lineker subsequently rubbished claims that his criticism of the team influenced Southgate’s decision.

Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, he said: ‘We’ve been unquestionably fair on England. There’s no doubt about that. But I think… it’s time for change. Probably for Gareth’s wellbeing as well, because it must be such a tough job.

Gareth Southgate resigned as England manager after the Euros, but Lineker denied his criticism influenced Southgate’s decision

‘Honestly. They constantly try to put a wedge between us and players and management. Just the silliness of it,’ he said. 

Lineker added: ‘We were critical at times, because you can’t say when a team is not playing very well, that they played well. 

‘If they played awfully, you say they played awfully, and they did in the early part of the tournament. There’s no question about that. But then to try and make it that that’s the reason, that criticism is the reason he’s gone. It’s not. It’s not that at all.

‘We speak to the players and they totally understand where it’s coming from.’