England icon Gary Lineker has called on Gareth Southgate to copy Liverpool in a response to Tuesday evening’s thumping at the hands of Hungary.
The Three Lions fell to a horrendous 4-0 defeat at Molineux on Tuesday evening with a woeful performance. Roland Sallai scored twice, with further goals coming from Zsolt Nagy and Daniel Gazdag to compound a thoroughly miserable evening for the hosts.
Defeat leaves England in a tricky position with the World Cup in Qatar only around the corner. The side have not managed to win a single game in the latest round of international fixtures and now sit bottom of their UEFA Nations League group.
That has seen current boss Southgate come under increasing pressure, fans in the West Midlands having booed the team off the pitch come the final whistle. However, Lineker has an idea over how the Three Lions could get back on track - by copying Jurgen Klopp 's Liverpool.
Taking to Twitter after the game, the former Three Lions striker wrote: “I said previously that @EnglandFootball missed a trick by not resting all their important players so they’d be fresh for the World Cup.
“Would have also loved to have seen us adopt Liverpool’s way of playing. Would suit us perfectly. I also acknowledge, I’ve never been a coach.”
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Whilst former England striker Lineker has given his thoughts on where the Three Lions go after their defeat to Hungary, another - Harry Kane - has also shared his disappointment after the game but did suggest that there is reason to remain optimistic considering the progress that the side have previously made under Southgate.
He said: "It’s a disappointing night. First half, I thought we created enough chances to score, but it’s been the story of our Nations League so far. We haven’t quite had the cutting edge.
"But the second half is unacceptable, once we went 2-0 down, to concede in the way we did. But it’s no time to panic, we need to keep our heads up, look forward to a break and come back stronger in September. It’s our first big defeat in a long time."
He continued: "We’re preparing for a big World Cup, and will learn a lot from this camp. Let’s not forget where we’ve come from: a first final in 60 years, and a semi-final at a World Cup. Compared to where we were over the last 50 years, it’s no time to panic. It’s not going to be perfect every game, the fans have to understand that.”
It goes without saying that Southgate has plenty of work to do ahead of the Three Lions’ next international fixtures. Their next scheduled outing is against Italy in the UEFA Nations League in September, with the side aiming to avoid relegation.
