The problem really comes down to one word. Unfortunately, that word — the key word in all of this — isn’t one that can be used here. But you know it. It’s an adjective, a noun, a verb, and usually an interjection. You might say it when you stub your toe, spill a cup of coffee, or realize you accidentally hit reply all.
Or, if you’re Gary Lineker, you might use the word on a podcast to describe England’s performance at the Euros. In this case, it was the team’s lethargic performance against Denmark, but it could also apply to the mostly win against Serbia and the stalemate with Slovenia.
So, if we boil it down to its core elements, it can be difficult (especially for outsiders) to understand why the term has become so popular. Caused such consternation.
Lineker, a respected former player and sensible commentator, believes England have underperformed. On the surface, that is true. England coach Gareth Southgate said after the same game that the “reset button” needed to be “hit”. The players acknowledge that their performances so far have not been good.
England’s contribution to Euro 2024 so far is two goals in three games, one win, and a place in the knockout stages despite taking fewer shots than all but a few other teams in the tournament. No one doubts the accuracy of Lineker’s word analysis. It’s likely that no one would be surprised if he used something more appropriate for a holding defender.
Yet the word seems to hurt. Part of that may be because the language of critics still avoids vulgarity, even if it sometimes feels a little dated. Part of it is because of the important and somewhat contradictory role Lineker plays in the British football industry.
He is known as the BBC’s main presenter of major matches and Premier League football, a position that usually prevents him from having much to say. He is supposed to be an impartial referee in his chair on Match of the Day every weekend, a man in a smart shirt and dress trainers who asks questions but does not give answers.
But Lineker has also become a very successful podcast manager, documentary producer and all-round media expert in recent years. His production studio Goalhanger is responsible for Four of the top ten podcasts in the UKIn one of the songs, “All That’s Left Is Football,” he used the phrase.
Of course, on this platform Lineker has every right to express his outspoken views on whatever subject he likes; he is not subject to the often obscure BBC ConferenceLineker does his best to draw a clear line between his podcast and TV personas, even though that often means condemning one without condemning the other.
But the distinction is subtle, and it is not helped by the fact that two of Lineker’s interlocutors in The Rest Is Football, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, also appear in Match of the Day. To the public, Lineker is supposed to be the embodiment of neutrality. To hear him deliver such vitriol is like seeing David Attenborough punch a dolphin.
Still, that’s not enough to explain why Lineker’s choice of jargon has dominated the past week. Discourse About England Euro 2024 Activity.
Of course, there seem to be more pressing issues to be addressed than whether a 63-year-old TV presenter – even one who has captained his country – can swear.
Does Southgate’s decision to break with convention and boldly name a crowd-pleasing team mean he doesn’t fully understand this squad? Is the sudden tendency to try new ideas for no more than 45 minutes and then abandon them when they don’t immediately work a good thing? Doesn’t the fact that Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden have all been identified at different times as the root of all England’s ills suggest the problem may be structural?
It’s not surprising that the news media gravitated to the foul-mouthed story: Lineker is a high-profile, controversial figure; the game itself is incredibly boring; and, deep down, everyone loves a fight.
But for the players, it was emblematic of more pressing questions about the media’s role in these games. It highlighted a long-standing and potentially irreconcilable divide between national teams and journalists, former players or not.
“I would never disrespect any player, especially one who has worn the shirt and knows what it’s like to play for England,” Harry Kane said in a press conference last week in response to a question about Lineker. Kane’s presence was slightly unusual; he had clearly come with a message.
“Now, the former players have to realize that it’s hard not to listen to their opinions now,” he said, arguing that instead of criticizing the team’s performance, former players should “help as much as possible.”
He added: “It’s better to build up the confidence of the lads.”
Declan Rice advocates the same approach. “Let’s keep the positive attitude in the game,” he said. “Let’s give the players the best confidence possible. Tell them they are the best players in the world. Let them read this and think: I’m going to go out there, I’m going to do well, I’m going to give everything.”
In both assessments, the role played by a nation’s news media is that of a cheerleader, “supporting us during the game and then judging us after it’s over,” as Kane puts it.
It’s worth noting that this is standard practice elsewhere, too. Last week, after Scotland lost to Hungary, a photo circulated on social media of a Scottish TV reporter in plain work clothes standing next to Hungarian TV reporters, all of whom were wearing team jerseys.
While tensions around the role of the media are old – Lineker undoubtedly felt the same way as Kane and Rice during his time with England – the atmosphere in which his successor operates has exacerbated them further.
Local newspapers have long been the number one accountability body for local clubs, but due to cuts many (not all) have been tempted to tell readers what they want to hear rather than what they need to know. Players have found influential figures more appealing than journalists, simply enjoying the fame they have been given. Access to players has become increasingly tightly controlled. So too has the content they are prepared to discuss.
While this conclusion is predictable, it is not the job of the news media. Lineker responded to Kane’s response (football pundits swallow their own tails) with, no doubt, a touch of dishonesty when he suggested it was all the result of “souring dissension” by a “cunning” media, after all, what is he if not one of the media?
But he needn’t shirk responsibility. It’s not his job as a TV presenter or podcast mogul to blindly support England.
His comments were not personal or abusive. Compared to the vicious attacks on social media, where exaggerated negativity is rewarded, his analysis was relatively mild. Perhaps his choice of words was jarring, as jarring as hearing a parent swear. But it was not inaccurate. It was telling that England’s players did not object to what he said, just his right to say it.
Euro mania: Week 3
Alpine Gall Perhaps Ralf Rangnick knew what was coming. Just six weeks ago, the 65-year-old coach was about to reach the peak of his career.
Bayern Munich wanted him to not only manage the team but also to transform the club: to cull the old generation of players, update the facilities, carry out a radical overhaul. In other words, Rangnick would have the opportunity to build one of Europe’s greatest football institutions in his own image.
Then, just when everyone thought the deal was about to be done, he turned it down. He wanted, he said, to finish the job he had done for Austria. At the time, it seemed like a strange decision; intuitively, he felt there must have been a dispute over money or control or something. No one was going to turn down Bayern Munich, which would have seen them knocked out of the group stage of the European Championship.
You may have noticed that it doesn’t really work like that.
Austria and Switzerland were the bright spots at Euro 2024, beating Poland and the Netherlands to top Group D, ahead of France. Austria played the whirlwind, high-intensity football that Rangnick has long championed, and in a way that — at least in modern football — Help popularize.
Of course, there’s a good chance that Austria’s run will end soon, in the round of 16 or the quarterfinals on Tuesday. But it’s hard not to feel that Rangnick has built one of the few truly self-aware teams in this tournament: with a clear identity, clear goals, and firm intentions. Rangnick has a chance to win it, a slim one, but a chance nonetheless.
Concertina That Austria – and Switzerland, let’s not forget the Swiss – can reach the last 16 with their heads held high and their eyes open is proof that international football has an increasingly sunny quality.
Europe’s domestic leagues spend so much time and energy telling you how competitive, unpredictable and exciting they are that it’s hard not to feel their protestations are a bit over the top. Sure, there are surprises and there is drama, but deep down most of us know that the ultimate deciding factor is often pure economics.
But international football is not like that, and even the heavyweights have their flaws. France and England both disappointed. Spain and Germany occasionally impressed. Only Portugal seemed to take it in stride, and they seemed determined to play with 10 men for much of the game.
Of course, this means that success is not out of reach for outsiders, and the same is true for teams that don’t have as much talent as the favorites, but have a well-drilled system and a few talents. The situation is more even, the gap is narrowed, and this brings real uncertainty. This is what sports are really about.
Blunt Edge Do you know who the top scorer of the European Cup is? That’s right, it’s the own goal! The own goal is hosting a great game! I wonder if Chelsea will try to sign the own goal! Or, if they can’t achieve it, maybe the current runner-up: Romelu Lukaku without VAR!
These jokes are, of course, funny and by no means parodies, but they also do a good job of encapsulating what is fast becoming one of the defining characteristics of the current era of football: the scarcity of genuine strikers. This is not to say that strikers don’t exist. They do. It’s just that they tend to be very old (Robert Lewandowski), ambivalent about playing forward (Kylian Mbappé) or have been created in a laboratory (Erling Haaland).
At the risk of making an overly bold prediction, this won’t last. Youth development in football is cyclical. Academies tend to focus on developing players that are lacking in the senior game. For a long time, this meant lean midfielders and “inverted” wingers. The next iteration may well be physical. Cold Blooded Striker.
