Shearer wrote for the Athletic: "On the podcast we do together, Gary (Lineker) described England as 's***' against Denmark, which prompted a few headlines, although it was nothing that won’t have been said — in much fruitier language — in pubs up and down the country.
"When Harry was then asked about it in a press conference, he suggested former players have a 'responsibility' to 'remember what it is like to wear the shirt', but I don’t go along with that. Then again, I also wasn’t his audience.
"Do you know something? Reverse our positions and I’d have probably said the same as Harry. As England captain, I most certainly did feel a responsibility and it was to protect my team as much as I could.
"I came out with some bulls*** in my time, not that it was untrue, but it was the party line, designed to foster togetherness, to set the tone. I was talking to my team.
"So it was, 'We’ll get better, we stick together, blah, blah blah'. It’s part of who you are and what you’re representing."