LONDON – Former captain Alan Shearer described England’s Euro 2016 defeat at the hands of Iceland as the “worst performance” he has ever seen from the national team.
Manager Roy Hodgson announced his resignation after his side lost 2-1 at the last-16 stage in Nice on Monday.
Despite leading through Wayne Rooney’s fourth-minute penalty, England lost to a nation ranked 34th in the world – and with a population of just 330,000.
Ex-striker Shearer, who won 63 caps, told BBC’s Match of the Day that England were “tactically inept”, while Rio Ferdinand, another former England skipper, said the display was “embarrassing”.
They were particularly scathing of England’s defending, notably Kyle Walker, for Iceland’s first goal, scored by Ragnar Sigurdsson from a long throw-in.
Alan Shearer: “That was the worst performance I’ve ever seen from an England team. Ever. It was tactically inept.
“We were out-fought, out-thought, out-battled and totally hopeless for 90 minutes. I said after the three group games that England weren’t good enough.
“It looked to me like Roy was making it up as he was going along.
“How can he pick Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere? We had players in the squad who didn’t deserve to be there. Manchester City’s winger Raheem Sterling hasn’t performed. We can go on and on. Then there was Tottenham striker Harry Kane on corners… the list is endless.
“Our players caved tonight. We’ve all played under pressure, they caved and the manager caved. He gave Manchester United teenage striker Marcus Rashford four minutes and he still did more than anyone else.
“We are blinded by the Premier League. We think it’s the best in the world for talent. It’s not. We are totally reliant on foreign players and managers for excitement. We are not as good as we think we are.”
“One of the biggest problems of not knowing the best England team, aside from best players or shape, is there is no philosophy. Against Iceland, there was no finesse and no inventiveness.
“I was excited by this England team. Qualifying was so easy. I didn’t expect us to win the tournament, but I expected, with the young players present, for there to be the vibrancy of previous matches. But that was gone.
“We’ve played a formation every game with two wide men and a frontman. How many actual wingers were on the plane?”
Former England winger Chris Waddle on BBC Radio 5 live: “They’ve not turned up. They go 1-0 up, but then concede a Sunday morning goal.
“We haven’t got leaders, they’re all pampered, they’re all [listening to] headphones and you can’t get anything out of them.
“I would never pay to watch Iceland, but they’ve got great camaraderie. England will now say we’re building a team for Qatar, then we’ll be building a team for Timbuktu.”
Shearer on the first Iceland goal, scored by Ragnar Sigurdsson from a long throw-in: “What is England assistant Gary Neville doing? He is one of the best defenders we have had.
“Surely they have worked on set-pieces all week? We knew what Iceland were going to do. For the second goal, there is no pressure on the ball at all. No marking, no organisation, no leader. That was embarrassing.
“Keeper Joe Hart should save it, but his defenders should do a lot more.”
BBC
