GARY LINEKER EXCLUSIVE: Roy Hodgson must attack at the World Cup... England will need plenty of goals to get out of their group
- The Golden Boot winner in 1986 has 2.4million Twitter followers and a new daily video blog from Brazil
- ‘I have a slight feeling for them (Argentina). The hosts won’t be far off, either, and of the Europeans, Spain could be there,' he says
- Lineker picks Paul Pogba of France as an emerging talent and also mentions England’s trio of Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge
- 'Roy has to be adventurous and outscore opponents because I fear England will concede goals,' Lineker adds
- Lineker, who will be anchoring the BBC coverage in Brazil, believes they have an outstanding line-up including Alan Shearer, Rio Ferdinand and Thierry Henry
What would Gary Lineker be worth as a footballer today? There was the World Cup Golden Boot in a tournament dominated by Diego Maradona, following a season of 30 goals in the top flight of English football. Then a hat-trick in El Clasico for Barcelona against Real Madrid. And all four goals for England in a 4-2 hammering of Spain in their own backyard.
‘Not as much as Messi or Ronaldo,’ he answers, flashing that familiar grin. ‘But not far behind. A few bob? Anyone with my goal ratio would be worth a few quid.’
How about, conservatively, £60million, if he was in his mid-20s, when he says he was ‘probably the best goalscorer in the world — in my prime, between 25-28. It’s the goalscorers who attract the biggest fees and the biggest salaries.’
VIDEO Scroll down to watch England forward Sterling score a neat goal in training
Glory days: Former England striker Gary Lineker proudly shows off his Golden Boot from the 1986 World Cup
Turning point: Lineker (centre) scores his first goal at the 1986 World Cup as England beat Poland 3-0
Danger man: Lineker celebrates after netting a hat-trick against Poland to help England stay in the tournament
He cost Barcelona £2.8m and scored 21 goals in his first season. Paris Saint-Germain just paid £50m for a defender, David Luiz.
Lineker doesn’t look like a man who would envy the money of today. ‘Not at all, but I envy the pitches. The wonderful surfaces they play on. It’s easier to score now and harder to be a defender. The rules favour attackers. One foul and the defender is booked. I used to get four or five bad ones before the defender was in trouble. But it’s the pitches more than anything.
‘I remember in 1986; you aspire all of your life to play in the World Cup, you’re at the pinnacle and you turn up in Mexico. It was like running through a cow field. Shocking pitches. I don’t miss playing, not at all. The older you get as a footballer, the pressure builds. Especially when you are a goal- scorer. The expectation grows. If you have a couple of games without a goal, it’s “what’s wrong with him, has he lost it?”.
‘Footballers are treated like schoolchildren. You must be on the bus at this time, you must eat at this time, you must go to bed at this time. You are shouted at by the coach. It becomes tiresome.
Opening up: Lineker discusses his international career with Head of Sport Lee Clayton
Poacher: Lineker (left), pictured here scoring against Poland at the Mexico World Cup, was a prolific scorer for club and country
Hands of God: Lineker attended the adidas Golden Shoe awards in Paris with Argentina maestro Diego Maradona (left) after heartbreak in the Azteca
Deadly duo: Lineker celebrates World Cup victory over Paraguay with England team-mate Peter Beardsley (right) in 1986
‘When you have the pressure of being a goal- scorer, a decent one will expect to score every other game. So that’s one high every three hours. Nobody notices the 80,000 runs you have made, that the defender has kicked you all over the place.
‘Do you know the best thing about being retired? People remember all the good stuff and forget the c***! I loved it, it was wonderful to have done it, but I don’t miss it. I did my bit and I got away with it. That’s how I view my career.’
It was some career. I asked him to bring his Golden Boot with him, won with six goals in the ‘Hand of God’ World Cup when England were knocked out by Argentina in the quarter-finals of 1986 (Maradona was equal second).
Against Poland in England’s third game, when they needed a win to stay in the tournament, Lineker scored three. ‘I thought I was going to be dropped. We were struggling, I hadn’t scored. Then the first goal was unremarkable but it was the most important goal of my career. If I hadn’t scored it then, I wouldn’t be sitting here now with this boot. It changed my life.’
He arrives with the boot, having dropped it in the High Street on the way, in a carrier bag. The presentation box is a bit bashed, but the boot is still gleaming.
He responds to a request to recreate the original black and white photo of him with the trophy for our Sportsmail photographer.
The original image, taken by Bob Thomas, feels like it might be from Victorian times. When Daniel Sturridge recently spoke about Lineker with warmth and respect — ‘10 goals in World Cup Finals, wow, that’s incredible’ — he might as well have been looking back that far, he could have been talking about Jimmy Greaves or Nat Lofthouse.
Still smiling: Lineker recreates the original photo of him holding his 1986 World Cup Golden Boot
Inspiration: England striker Daniel Sturridge is hoping to follow in Lineker's footsteps in Brazil this summer
Animated: Lineker believes England must attack their opponents at this summer's World Cup in Brazil
Heads up: Lineker (third from right) nods in England's goal in their quarter final defeat to rivals Argentina at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico
To the PlayStation generation — and that will include most of this youthful England World Cup squad — Lineker is ‘that bloke off the telly’ who presents Match of the Day, eats lots of crisps and has a lot to say on Twitter, where he has 2.4million followers. Add a new daily video blog from Brazil and Lineker is a man with a growing platform.
‘I get so many requests to do interviews from around the world. You can’t upset the Mexicans by speaking to the Germans and so on. The requests pile in, especially around the World Cup. I tweet, but there is only so much you can say in 140 characters. When I’m presenting on the BBC I’m there to ask the questions. This way, with my daily video blog, I can have my say and anyone can have a look at what I’ve got to say.’
He is saying that Argentina — and Messi — will shine in Brazil.
‘I have a slight feeling for them (Argentina). The hosts won’t be far off, either, and of the Europeans, Spain could be there. If they win they will be the greatest team in history. You say Brazil in 1970, but they didn’t win in 1966 or 1974. Spain are going for back-to-back, as well as the European titles.
Backing: Lineker thinks Lionel Messi and his Argentina team-mates could go all the way in Brazil
Team to beat: World Cup holders Spain stand the best chance of any European side at this summer's tournament according to Lineker
‘You can’t argue that they will be the greatest ever if they pull it off. It might be one tournament too far for this generation of Spanish players. We’ll see.
‘The Germans really fancy their chances, too, but I don’t see that. It’s Argentina for me if Messi can carry them and if their firepower is working. He’s been sensible this season, still scoring plenty for Barcelona, but protecting his body.
‘I love watching him play. He’s been saving himself, playing in third gear. He might explode all over this tournament just like Diego did in 1986.
‘Then there is Ronaldo, who has dragged his country to these Finals; and Neymar, the poster boy of Brazil, can be special. But I don’t like the way he flings himself to the ground.
‘He needs to look at Messi, who plays the game honestly. That’s something else I love about him. Yes, it could be Messi’s World Cup. He is a fox in the box, who does everything else! I could never have imagined being able to do what he can do.’
Lineker picks Paul Pogba of France as an emerging talent and also mentions England’s trio of Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge. I want him to talk more about Barkley and comparisons with Paul Gascoigne.
‘There are obviously similarities. He runs with the ball from midfield, goes past defenders; he is strong and has that stature. He can do the unexpected. Like Gazza.
‘Gazza burst on to the scene just before the World Cup and Sir Bobby Robson trusted him and he delivered. He was brilliant in 1990.
‘I’m trying to work out what Roy Hodgson is doing with Barkley. Is he talking him down to manage expectation for when he leaves him out? Is he trying to calm it down around him, or to stop it from going to his head? He’s a hell of a player.
‘It’s rare for Roy to be critical of a player, as he was after the Ecuador game. He talked about Ross giving the ball away, but Messi gives the ball away. Statistically he gives it away more than any other player in Spain, because he’s always trying something, trying to make it happen. Ross wants to run with the ball. Let him run with the ball. I hope he gets a chance.’
Lineker has his views on the England team. ‘We would all name the same back four and the goalkeeper, plus Steven Gerrard — a brilliant player and the captain — and now Sturridge at centre forward.
‘But then Roy has options, probably for the first time in years. It’s four from six. In a variety of formations. Take your pick from Barkley, Sterling, Lallana, Welbeck, Rooney, Henderson.’
Rooney only in the pack? ‘Yes, but I’d pick him if he’s fit. Roy has to be adventurous and outscore opponents because I fear England will concede goals. Who will create the most chances and who will take them? England need to score goals to get out of this group.’
Fearless: Youngster Ross Barkley (left) put in a confident performance in his first start for England
Magician: Lineker believes Barkley plays in a similar style to his former team-mate Paul Gascoigne (right)
Too cautious? Lineker wants England boss Roy Hodgson to unleash Barkley on opposition defences in Brazil
Magic moment: Lineker (left) smashes in England's equaliser in their World Cup semi-final defeat to West Germany at Italia '90
We’re back to talking about goals with a fella who knows a bit about it. He keeps his Golden Boot hidden away at home along with a ‘bagful of shirts and a boxload of medals’. None of them are on show.
When teased by Piers Morgan on Twitter about his lack of silverware, Lineker pulled out his goldware — the World Cup boot and three First Division top scorer awards.
He tells a story from one season, in 1986, when the Everton kit man forgot his boots so he played in a borrowed pair a size-and-a-half too big in a 1-0 defeat at Oxford, missed a couple of chances and the title was lost to Liverpool after a three-way chase with West Ham.
Lineker’s favoured boots were returned to him for the final two matches and he scored five goals, which is what set him up for the Mexico World Cup.
‘I was ridiculously superstitious. If I went more than two games without a goal, I would have a haircut. I would never shoot into the goal during the warm-up — why waste a goal? — and I never changed my shirt at half-time if I scored, but always changed it if I didn’t.
‘I didn’t like changing my boots if I was on a scoring run, so my boots that I wore when I scored a hat-trick against Poland needed some repair and it became one of the stories of the time. I kept getting them repaired and I kept on scoring. Now I realise that being so superstitious is just bad luck.’
Golden year: Lineker (right), pictured here scoring against Sheffield Wednesday for Everton during the 1985/86 season, netted 30 league goals in his only season at Goodison Park
All smiles: Lineker shows off his Golden Boot and its original box with Head of Sport Lee Clayton
Pure joy: Lineker (second from right) celebrates opening the scoring against Paraguay at the 1986 World Cup
My favourite Lineker moment was those four goals for England against Spain in Madrid.
He recalls: ‘I had flown over with my Barcelona team-mates for the game and there was plenty of banter. Terry Venables was on the flight. He was my Barcelona manager and was also working for the BBC that night. I scored three scrambled tap-ins and one good goal.
‘After the game, Andoni Zubizarreta, the Barcelona and Spain goalkeeper, came into the England dressing room and said in his best cockney accent, trying to sound like Terry, ‘f****** hell’. It was very funny.
‘I also remember the Barcelona newspaper — they are very partisan — reporting on its front page, “Catalan Footballer Scores Four Against Spain”. They were good days.’
Listen to John Motson’s excellent BBC commentary (and see the terrible pitch) on Google: ‘Lineker — extraordinary! They can’t stop him in their First Division and they can’t stop him in the international arena tonight. Lineker has got the lot.’
Unstoppable: Lineker (third from left) pokes home his fourth goal against Spain at the Bernabeu in 1987
Hat-trick hero: Lineker (second from left) celebrates after netting his third goal in England's 4-2 win against Spain
Lineker, who will be anchoring the BBC coverage in Brazil, believes they have an outstanding line-up including Alan Shearer, Rio Ferdinand and Thierry Henry, and he will be saying goodbye to his old mate Alan Hansen.
‘I’ve been working with him for 20 years and I will miss him, on and off the screen. He has changed the face of football punditry,’ he says.
So much has changed since Lineker arrived on the BBC and eventually replaced Des Lynam in 1999 as the presenter — including the growth of social media. Lineker hadn’t anticipated the furore when he decided to quit Twitter.
‘Honestly, I sat there one day with my family and everyone was on their phone around the table, so I said: “That’s it, we’re all coming off it, this is madness”. So we all agreed.
Anchorman: Lineker will lead the BBC's coverage of the World Cup live from Brazil throughout June and July
Opinionated: Lineker is also heavily involved in World Cup website blahzil.com
‘I came off Twitter to do my bit, but the next day there were reporters outside our house, outside (his wife) Danielle’s family, asking questions about us. Why had I come off? What were we hiding?
‘It was easier being on it, so I went back! I like it.’
Lineker has 10 World Cup Finals goals. Only 12 men have achieved double figures, including Pele, Gerd Muller and the other Ronaldo.
‘I’ve got more than Messi and Cristiano put together,’ he smiles. ‘At the moment...’
You can view Gary’s World Cup blog at: http://www.goalhangerfilms.com
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One wonders why Roy has taken a proven NON goal scorer in Welbeck as opposed to a proven goal scorer like Defoe ?
During my school days a player like Lineker was known as a goal hanger (a glory boy). He would never move away from the goal area and wait for the rest of the team to do all the work getting the ball through the opposing team, he would then take the ball at the last moment and put it in the net. A goal hanger would never be a skilful player but would be seen as the match winner. Gary Lineker was a classic goal hanger, he was never seen out of breath and would always appear fresh and full of energy, that was simply because he never did any work with the ball, the rest of the team carried him.
Good article, and why should being so superstitious be unlucky? Is there proof of that or is it just being superstitious.
Ahh Argentina......reminds me of when the respect campaign in the Premier League started.....with a Mascherano red card at......you guessed it......Old Trafford.
Gary you were a brilliant goal scorer, but i cant remember where you have managed, oh you haven't but you know better than Roy?
Some intelligent advice from Gary--England must attack and outscore the opposition. Roughly translated --England need to win their games. Thanks Gary, I wonder if any other team had thought of that---hopefully not so we could end up with the cup!
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mj rooney, Manchester, United Kingdom, 1 week ago
Gary was class, and so was Beardsley, what England would give to have a pair of frontmen like them now