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Gary Lineker rips FA director's defence of second-rate England under-21 squad

Football Association technical director Dan Ashworth has stood by England's decision not to select their best available under-21 squad for the European Championship, drawing high criticism from former striker Gary Lineker.

The likes of Raheem Sterling, Jack Wilshere, Ross Barkley, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Luke Shaw were eligible to play for England Under-21s, but were not included in Gareth Southgate's 23-man squad, which crashed out in the group stage on Wednesday, beaten 3-1 by Italy when a draw would have seen them progress.

Ashworth, the FA's director of elite development, said of the squad choices: "We made the decision and I back it. Youth teams are there to help develop players and give them experience to get into the seniors.

"The players who hadn't competed in the two-year cycle and lead-up to the European Championship wouldn't be considered.

"The debate will be reopened now but we stand by the decision Gareth and I made. You never know when you drop players into a new group whether it'll be the right thing to do."

Lineker disagreed, describing the policy as "indefensible." He tweeted alongside a link to the Ashworth story:

Meanwhile, Former Premier League player Jimmy Bullard said on Thursday he believes England teams are being hampered in tournament football by an "robotic" approach.

Besides the under-21s struggles, the senior side also failed to make the knockouts at last summer's World Cup in Brazil, finishing bottom behind Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica.

With little joy in the present or among the next generation, the prospect of a first major trophy since 1966 seems remoter than ever.

And Bullard, who played for the likes of Wigan, Fulham and Hull in the Premier League but never graced the international stage, thinks the English mentality is to blame.

"We've struggled for quite a few years now in tournaments and I feel like we're just a bit robotic," he told Press Association Sport at at the launch of Carling's Shirt Amnesty.

"The seniors are starting to get to grips with the need to play with freedom but watching the under-21s I felt like I knew where every pass was going. It's all straight lines.

"When you watch South American teams play it's off-the-cuff, experimental. That's what I love to watch.

"I feel English managers can be very regimented sometimes, but you can't just teach anticipation and skill.

"We need someone who can unlock that flair in players. I like Raheem Sterling a lot, he's someone who can change things and open locks, but we need to use him right."

Former QPR midfielder Joey Barton branded the culture within English football "rotten from top to bottom."

"Everybody wants to blame it on something and it's not a case of that," he said on BBC Radio 5 Live. "It's not the players, it's not the coaching staff, it's not one thing, it's an accumulation of many things.

"The culture within English football is not changing -- no St George's Park, no massive spend, no change of coach, this isn't going to change it.

"The culture is rotten from top to bottom. England's national team will under-perform at every single tournament because of this reason and that filters down."

Barton also claimed England players should be unavailable for selection for the senior team for a number of years if they turned down the chance to play for the under-21s.

"The FA should say to them 'if you don't make yourself eligible for an under-21 campaign if you're selected, you won't be considered by the national team for however many years'," he said. He added: "We need to get in line, we need to get a passion restored in the badge of representing your country at any level."

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