Goalkeeper Joe Hart dismisses England's Twitter critics
Last updated on .From the section Football
Joe Hart says England's critics can "tweet all they want from their sofas" while Roy Hodgson's side concentrate on qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.
Former England striker Gary Lineker used social media to describe Hodgson's tactics during the 1-1 draw against Republic of Ireland last week as "a step back to the dark ages".
"We're not interested in stuff like that," said goalkeeper Hart.
"They can tweet all they want from their sofas - we're out here doing it."
Lineker was upset that Hodgson opted for a rigid 4-4-2 system against Ireland.
"Don't like England playing this system," added Lineker. "So easy to play against. Predictable and dated."
England followed up their lacklustre midweek performance with a 2-2 draw against Brazil in the Maracana on Sunday.
Hodgson's side have won just three of the last nine matches, including two against San Marino, and sit second in their World Cup 2014 qualifying group with four games to go, two points behind Montenegro.
Three of England's remaining four World Cup qualifiers are at Wembley. They entertain Moldova on 6 September before travelling to Ukraine four days later.
England then entertain Group H leaders Montenegro on 11 October and round off their qualifying campaign at home to Poland on 15 October.
"I would love to be back in Brazil next year but we have a long hard road ahead of us and we will put everything we can into it," added Hart after winning his 32nd cap against Brazil.
"We have to take the positives though. We beat Spain and Brazil at home in friendlies.
"No one has taken us apart - we just need to get over the finish line [in qualifying].
"We dug in when we needed to and we have to repeat that [in September]."
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He's a goalkeeper for goodness sake and knows absolutely nothing about upholstery.
Stick to what you know Joe.
That's my opinion.
Zlatan 4 - 2 England
If by 'doing it' he means punting the ball 60yds and conceding possession over and over, then yes I agree.
/2pence.
In the time I've written this most of the players have only earned about £20,000.
"Ashley Cole Full of Praise For Under-Desk Pedestal Units"
and
"Andres Iniesta Cock-a-Hoop Over "The Renaissance Of The Puffy""
Half of these problems start with Hart's distribution. Pass it out to a defender and lets see how we get on.
It is an unfortunate coincidence that he's suddenly decided to "speak his mind" following the best game he's had for a while!
It's depressing that footballers can't fathom the high expectations us commoners have of them when most earn in a week what their critics would in 10 years...Still poor them, they're trying!
"and actually Hodgson has a very good record as a coach"
Really?
If you examine his record, or even just skim over it, you will realise that aside from a few Scandinavian cups back in the 90's, he has achieved very little
There is a common misconception that he is a "safe pair of hands" whereas if you actually look at the hard evidence you will find that he is quite the opposite
"Football without the fans is nothing"
He could do well to have a bit of humility and remember it's his countries shirt he's pulling on.
A decent keeper, nowehere near as good as he thinks he is - as demonstrated by numerous lapses this season. His humiliation by Pirlo should've taught him a lesson, but like most young england players he is seriously lacking in humility.