Keir Starmer has said the Three Lions are getting “too much criticism” from the nation.
The Labour leader said the team was a “brilliant squad” as he urged fans to get behind the England players. Gareth Southgate’s team have been facing criticism after a lacklustre start to the Euros 2024 competition.
Speaking on a visit to a college in Staffordshire, Arsenal-fan Mr Starmer said: “Too much criticism, get behind them, get them over the line. This is a really important competition. England always do a bit of this at the beginning of competitions, but get behind the team.
“It’s a brilliant squad of players who all had fantastic seasons for their respective clubs. Let’s get behind the team, this is going to click and I want less of a criticism and more of the support.“
Mr Starmer earlier this week urged fans to “get behind” the England squad after a row involving pundits and former England players Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.
Lineker called the Three Lions’ performance against Denmark “s***!” He added: “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***,” he told the Rest is Football.
It caused Harry Kane to hit back furiously. “With podcasts and things like that, people are trying to promote their own channels and sometimes the headline, because you want the most views, isn’t always what people want to see. People will do things for their own gain, that’s just life,” he said.
A furious Harry Kane hit back and said: “With podcasts and things like that, people are trying to promote their own channels and sometimes the headline, because you want the most views, isn’t always what people want to see. People will do things for their own gain, that’s just life.
“I back the England team on this. I think, look, they’re in the middle of this competition,” Mr Starmer told Talk. “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.”