Lewis Hall responded to criticism from Tim Sherwood with a strong performance for England, earning praise from Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker. The Newcastle United left-back had been told to 'keep his mouth shut' by the former Tottenham boss after describing the England shirt as 'heavy' to wear.
Hall starts against Czech Republic
The 22-year-old was rewarded with an England call-up after a strong start to the season at St James' Park. Hall was an unused substitute in the defeat to Spain at the weekend but was named in the starting XI against the Czech Republic after an injury to Nico O'Reilly.
Just ahead of him on the pitch was former club team-mate Gordon, who joined Barcelona in the summer, with their strong partnership on the left key to the 2-0 win. Trent Alexander-Arnold put in a brilliant cross for Gordon's goal, with Shearer and Lineker dishing out praise for that, but they also made a point to speak about Hall's impact.
Shearer and Lineker praise Hall
Shearer said on the Rest is Football podcast: "They were a threat down that side, him and Lewis Hall. Obviously, they know each other and did well when they had to. Their understanding of each other's game." Lineker added: "I totally agree, I thought Lewis Hall was excellent and Gordon as well."
Hall was on England press conference duties ahead of the Nations League clash in Prague, with his World Cup snub a topic for discussion that later resulted in him describing the shirt as 'heavy'. He said: "There's going to be a sense of disappointment but I'm just looking to use that and bounce back and hopefully I can create a good account of myself here. It's a heavy shirt. I mean, you're representing England, one of the best countries in the world.
"Whenever you step on the pitch, you've got to be at your best. You've got to be doing the right things because there's a lot at stake. I think everyone who's in the squad, and even players who aren't in the squad, know how much it means to each other to play for our country. It's always nice competition and I think it's healthy to get the best out of players."
Sherwood's criticism and response
A portion of that verdict seemingly upset Sherwood, who hit back rather brutally and claimed he should take a page out of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham's book. "I don't like the honesty," Sherwood said on Sky Sports. "I think he should keep his mouth shut when he's talking about heavy shirts because I think the manager is looking at that and thinking 'is it heavy just for him, or is it collectively that it's heavy?'
"Now, if you ask Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane if it's heavy, they'd say 'bring it on, let's get to the next game and I'll show you how good I am.' That's what I want to see from him [Hall]. I like him. He's got a huge future ahead of him but he's got to realise the manager is watching their every single move. Whether it's in camp, in front of the press or on the pitch. When he's on the pitch that's all he's got to do is just perform like he performs for Newcastle, express himself.
"He's good going forward. He's defensively sound as well. I think he's got a really good opportunity to cement that position for himself."
Despite the criticism, Hall provided the perfect response by showing his class on the pitch. He will hope to do so again in the coming days, with England facing Croatia and the Czech Republic again in their final two games of the international break.
