Keir Starmer addresses stinging England criticism after woeful Euros begin
Labour leader Keir Starmer has urged fans to “get behind” the England squad amid criticism from veteran players of their recent performances.
Mr Starmer was asked by broadcaster Talk whether he agreed with criticisms made by Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, among others. The pundits were critical of England’s underwhelming 1-0 win against Serbia and 1-1 draw against Denmark.
Football icon Mr Lineker previously told the Rest is Football podcast: “I think we have to reflect the mood of the nation. I can’t imagine anyone who is English would have enjoyed that performance because it was lethargic, it was dour. You can think of all sorts of words and expletives if you like, but it was s***.”
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AFP via Getty Images)
Mr Lineker later said he wished “people would stop being so critical” of England. Labour leader Mr Starmer agreed and urged the nation to support England despite a less-than-stellar start to the Euros competition.
“I back the England team on this. I think, look, they’re in the middle of this competition,” Mr Starmer said, “a really important game is coming up. Let’s just get behind the team. You know, we’ve done this before. England.
“We sort of never, I don’t think, have a particularly great start to these competitions. But then we click, we pull together. It’s a fantastic team and I am going to back them all the way.”
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PA)
Mr Starmer, an Arsenal season ticket holder, has previously thrown his weight behind the Three Lions in a series of social media posts. England will tonight take on Slovenia, although they have already made it through to the knockout stages.
Gareth Southgate’s lads have so far picked up four points from two games and could face any of Austria, Romania, Belgium, Slovakia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic should they win tonight. But, England’s path to the final could face a serious test in hosts Germany should they finish as runners-up.
England v Slovenia will kick off at Cologne’s RheinEnergieStadion at 8pm tonight (June 25). The match will be broadcast on ITV, ITV4 and can be streamed live on ITVX.
