John Barnes believes Gary Lineker and other critical Euro 2024 pundits have been ‘disgraceful’ with their condemnation of England’s performances at the tournament this summer.
The Three Lions have failed to impress in Germany, despite finishing top of their group.
Gary Lineker and other Euro 2024 pundits have been harsh on England this summer
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Lineker has been England’s biggest critic so far.
The BBC presenter, never one to mince his words, even called the Three Lions ‘s**t’ after their draw with Denmark on matchday two.
And Barnes, speaking to MyBettingSites.co.uk, has now criticised the way pundits have repeatedly attacked England for their performances at the European Championships so far.
“It’s disgraceful. It’s disgraceful,” he said.
“I understand the media have a job to do, but those guys in the media know how difficult it is.
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“Particularly the players who’ve played and they’ve been through the situation whereby they’ve been criticised when they played.
“And as much as much as they say they’re just giving an opinion, when they were playing other people were just giving their opinion.
“So if they’re supportive and they understand how difficult it is you have to be constructively critical. Whereas I think some have been overly critical.
“We’ve not lost yet. We’ve gone through.
“Yes, we want to play better. But, in the past at tournaments, we’ve not done well in the early stages and we’ve gone through to do well.
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“So I think that they can be more supportive for sure.”
Barnes isn’t overly pleased with England’s displays so far this summer himself, however.
The former Liverpool star believes the Three Lions ‘don’t have a system’, while also accusing Gareth Southgate of ‘trying to fit round holes into square pegs’.
He continued: “We have to stop thinking that a solution to the problem is to get the ball to a player who can do something.
“Play Foden because he can do something. Get the ball to Saka and he can do something. Get the ball to Bellingham. We don’t have a system and a formation is not a system.
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John Barnes believes Gary Lineker and other critical Euro 2024 pundits have been ‘disgraceful’ with their condemnation of England’s performances at the tournament this summer
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“We’re trying to fit round holes into square pegs.
“They have to find a way of playing that benefits the team, which doesn’t mean just putting all the best players on, and it doesn’t mean because Gordon came on and did well that he now has to play.”
Bellingham, according to reports, would like to play as a false nine.
And Barnes doesn’t like seeing the Real Madrid star used as a No 10, adding: “So for example, Jude Bellingham is not on number ten. Jude Bellingham is a number eight.
“He’s not a technical player like Phil Foden or Cole Palmer.
England players have struggled at Euro 2024 so far this summer
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“But we’re playing him as a number ten. So therefore we’re not getting the best out of Phil Foden.”
“Other teams don’t look to solve their problems by just changing the players.
“You have to look at the way you play, the pattern of play, the system you use, rather than just thinking to get the ball to an individual and hoping the individual does well.”
