England head coach Gareth Southgate has urged the fans to back the team in the ongoing European championships. The Three Lions opened their campaign with a 1-0 win against Serbia but played a 1-1 draw against Denmark and they were booed by their own fans.
Southgate’s men played a goalless draw against Slovenia in their last match of Group C on Tuesday and the gaffer was booed by the fans. England were booed at half-time and full-time at the RheinEnergieSTADION.
Southgate admitted he understands the fans’ frustration as they haven’t produced the results that were expected.
“I understand it. I’m not going to back away from it. The most important thing here is that the supporters stay with the team.
“I understand the narrative towards me and that’s better for than it being towards them. But it is creating an unusual environment to operate in. I’ve not seen any team qualify and receive similar.
“I recognise that when you have moments at the end of the game, I’m asking the players to be fearless, I’m not going to back down from going over and thanking the fans who were brilliant during the game.
“They might feel differently towards me. But for me, we only will succeed if we are together. That energy is crucial for the team and it is so important they stay with the team, however they feel towards me.”
Asked what had changed about the environment around the team, Southgate replied: “I think probably expectation. We’ve made England over the last six or seven years fun again. I think it has been enjoyable for the players. We’ve got to be very, very careful that it stays that way.”
Meanwhile, England captain Harry Kane reckons this was an improved performance from his team compared to a 1-1 draw against Denmark.
“That was the aim before the start of the tournament, come top of the group and control our destiny,” he told ITV. “I thought we played a lot better than the other games. We couldn’t just find that finish but we look forward to the next one.
“We created some half chances and there were some that we could maybe have done better.
England will play their round of 16 fixture on Sunday but their opponent is yet to be decided.
