Lineker was left baffled by one of Southhate's decisions at Euro 2024 (Image: Getty)
Gary Lineker has claimed he couldn't "get his head around" Gareth Southgate abandoning the system that saw England beat the Netherlands in the semi-final of Euro 2024 for the final itself.
Southgate reverted to a back four for the defeat to Spain and the BBC presenter has spoken about how he couldn't get to grips with the, now former, England manager's switch back to a "system that just didn't work". The England boss deployed a back four in the opening games of the tournament as the Three Lions struggled, only to shift to a 3-4-2-1 for the quarter-final victory over Switzerland and semi-final win against the Dutch, before deciding to field a back four once again against Spain in the final.
The huge game in Berlin was marred by several of England's stars toiling against a compact and domineering Spanish team. Jude Bellingham was also seen bellowing at Southgate and the Three Lions dugout around the hour mark demanding they change the set-up.
On their podcast, The Rest is Football, Shearer and Lineker have revealed that not only did Southgate's reversal to a dysfunctional system irk them, but also the fact that Real Madrid star Bellingham was being deployed on the left side - a role that was clearly irritating the 21-year-old.
Bellingham endured a fairly muted tournament – aside from his heroic acrobatics against Slovakia and opening game header – and Shearer remarked that England's No.10 did not look "happy" with the way things were panning out in the Berlin showpiece.
"He (Bellingham) was looking towards the bench for guidance and to see if things weren't going as well. And he wasn't happy with lack of press and everything else. He was showing all of those emotions." Shearer said, before adding: "I could see it. I was looking at him all the time."
Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham struggled against Spain (Image: Getty)
Lineker then asked the Newcastle legend if Bellingham's frustrations were natural and the result of a player coming off the back of a hugely successful domestic campaign then plunged into a team that's not functioning correctly and wondering "why is this happening?" The pair of former strikers then agreed that the Real Madrid man is "not a left midfielder" and that they understood Belllingham's "frustrations" with Southgate.
Lineker then attempted to find reasoning for Southgate's dramatic system alteration asking Shearer and Richards: "Do you think it was odd that he drifted away from the box that had been successful and suddenly went, oh, I'm too worried about the left hand side, so I want Bellingham to track back."
Ex-England striker Shearer agreed and revealed his "surprise" that Southgate settled for the back four against Spain due to England's encouraging first-half performance against the Netherlands, when they opted for the back three. "I was really surprised that he went back to the four because our best 45 minutes of football over the whole of the tournament was against the Netherlands in the first half with playing three at the back, two wing backs," Shearer said.
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He further added that he thought the former England coach would've gone "like for like" and insert Shaw into the successful system that saw the Three Lions overcome the Swiss and the Dutch. "When he brought Shaw back in, which we all thought that he would do, just because what we've been seeing all tournament is a lack of balance down the left hand side, so when the opportunity arose that he's played 45 and he's obviously fit to start a game, I thought, yeah, he'll put him back in," he said, before adding: "I thought he would have just gone like for like for that system again."
A stunned Lineker concurred with BBC's co-commentator for the final, saying: "I was shocked he didn't do it. I mean, I just couldn't get my head around it. It just seemed he went back to a system that just did not work.”
