I learnt something about Gary Lineker when I was doing some freelance work for one of Barcelona’s sports newspapers a few years ago.

It was something which was staring me in the face but I had never noticed.

The very part-time role involved writing pieces on English football which might interest the Catalan readership.

But don’t bother with Manchester, they said, because they already had a man there keeping tabs on rival managers Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho.

One obvious source of stories appeared to be Lineker’s views on key issues.

He is a massive figure of world football, he played for Barcelona and he is on BBC1 every Saturday talking about the Premier League and its stars.

And that was when I realised it. He never actually gave his own opinion.

One of the country’s most talented, successful, deep-thinking and articulate players never gave us his own thoughts.

He was too busy trying to be Des Lynam.

Well, that has now changed, hasn’t it? And rightly so.

Lineker’s evaluation of Harry Kane’s play as an England No.9 on the BBC was exactly what he should be doing.

He took it further on a podcast, referring to a “s***” performance by England.

And that is were it all started kicking off.

Pick one small part of the overall message, get it out there, then report the reaction – and the reaction to the reaction.

Before you know it, days will have ticked by and we will have another football match to talk about.

Harry Kane’s response was measured and has been praised.

But anything around England at a tournament is magnified.

Criticism means you are not “getting behind the boys”, praise can be interpreted as getting carried away.

From a fan’s or a media perspective, it also appears being optimistic about England can be gleefully seized on as arrogance, entitlement, over-expectation.

We are in the former position going into match three, with England under fire after taking four points from a possible six.

They have been hard-to-beat but hard-to-watch.

Where Lineker may well have got it wrong was in saying reporters were too scared to put the right questions.

But ultimately everyone wants the same thing, surely?

Lineker said: “The last thing in the world we want to be is downbeat and critical. We want the England team to perform well on the pitch.

“The best punditry of all is when England play well.”

Luke Shaw trained in the final session before tonight’s game with Slovenia, in which England will look to secure a last-16 place and top spot in the group.

One still wonders how they have had no available left-back or defensive midfielders deemed worthy of selection.

How can they be improvising and experimenting like a team in pre-season?

How can they be patching up roles in one or two areas of the team like a League One side in mid-season?

And then there is the expectation thing.

As someone not quite old enough to have been on this earth in 1966, I do not expect England to win a major tournament in my lifetime.

Not a senior, men’s one anyway. So there’s expectation for you.

That is rather sad given how strong and revered English football is in so many facets on and off the pitch.

It feels like we will never enjoy the sort of national delight enjoyed in France, Holland, Germany (unified and West), Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia.

So what works? That is the problem with England. There is no blueprint or precedent, not for going all the way at least.

We can talk about how they drew their first game in 1996 or their second in 2018 and 2021 and then improved.

We can think about in-tournament changes such as a sweeper and wing-backs in 1990 or Peter Beardsley joining Lineker in attack in 1986.

But tonight gives the chance to change the current mood by winning well against Slovenia.

We know the alternative. It will be one extreme or the other.

But don’t knock those who give intelligent analysis as to why things go right or wrong.