Shearer slams England fans as ‘you can’t blame’ Henderson for Saudi move | OneFootball

Alan Shearer has slammed England fans for booing Jordan Henderson.

Alan Shearer says “you can’t blame” Henderson for moving to Saudi Arabia, as the former Newcastle striker slammed the England fans for booing the midfielder.

Henderson joined Saudi Pro League Al-Ettifaq in the summer as he brought his 12-year career at Liverpool to an end.

The 33-year-old – who was previously an advocate for the Rainbow Laces campaign – was heavily criticised for moving to Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is illegal and can be punishable by death.

On his return to Wembley on Friday, Henderson was booed by England fans, and Shearer insists it was a “harsh” reaction from supporters, who he doubts would have done anything different to the midfielder if given the option to increase his pay pakcet so significantly.

“I thought that was extremely harsh,” he said. “Would I be correct in saying that 98 or 99 percent of those that booed him, if given the same chance, put in the same position to earn £700,000 per week, would they say no to that?” Shearer told the Rest Is Football podcast.

“You can’t blame him for that. The work he has done off the field, as well as on the field. He’s been a great captain for Liverpool – a fantastic leader. He’s taken Liverpool to heights that they hadn’t been to for a long time.

“So I don’t agree with the criticism of him at all. He could have chosen not to do any work. He could have chosen not to do any work for the NHS, for the LGBT community, but he did.”

Gary Lineker claims Henderson should retire and “make the decision” for Gareth Southgate, who’s been put in an awkward position.

“When I went to Japan, I made a conscious decision to retire from international football,” Lineker added. “When you go for that end-of-career experience, a payday, personally I think it helps the England manager if you make that decision for him.”

and has received the backing of Southgate.