Gary Lineker and Micah Richards have responded to criticism of the BBC‘s coverage of England’s win against Switzerland.
Lineker and Richards were part of the BBC team which analysed the game as Gareth Southgate‘s side won on penalties to make it through to the semi-finals of Euro 2024.
Although Breel Embolo put Switzerland ahead in the 75th minute, Bukayo Saka equalised for England just five minutes later. After extra-time, England eventually managed to prevail on spot-kicks.
England will now take on the Netherlands on Wednesday as they look to make it through to the final.
However, some fans accused the BBC pundits of being too positive with their comments about England’s performance against Switzerland.
Gary Lineker (left) and Micah Richards (right) have responded to criticism of the BBC’s coverage of England’s win against Switzerland
England overcame Switzerland on penalties to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2024
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Richards said: ‘We got a little bit of… I wouldn’t say stick, people were saying we were a little too positive for England.’
Lineker responded by saying that he was previously accused of being too negative with regards to the Three Lions.
Lineker said: ‘Before they were saying we were a little bit too negative. There are always going to be people who will disagree with you.’
Richards elaborated on his belief that while it was far from a vintage performance from England against Switzerland, it was still considerably better than what they produced in previous matches at the tournament.
Richards said: ‘Yeah, but I think it’s nice to explain. Ok terms of the first game, Serbia, we all had huge expectations of what England were going to do, they weren’t great.
‘Then we had Denmark who were really organised. Then we had Slovenia and we see in their system, 4-4-2, they defend really deep in a low block, difficult to break down. Then we have Slovakia where of course last-minute brilliance from Bellingham and Kane wins it in extra time.
‘When I said England were brilliant I’m comparing them to the previous four games. I’m not saying they were the finished article.’
Richards stated that he felt England played better than they previously did at the tournament
Richards felt that the tactical tweaks made by Southgate were hugely beneficial to England’s performance.
However, the defender admitted that Southgate should make his substitutions earlier, with his first changes not coming until the 78th minute.
He said: ‘All the things you mentioned, higher up the pitch, Foden as the No10, all the things we’ve been crying out for. Maybe if we were being really picky would we have put Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right-wing-back, I think that would’ve been perfect for him but then you lose Saka and he played so well.
‘Obviously the positive is Luke Shaw coming back into the side as well, looked like he had not been away from football for the time he has.
‘So I like to clarify what we meant. We were in the emotion of the game at the time. It was just a better performance.
‘In terms of Southgate, could he make his subs earlier? Yes, we agree with that.’
Lineker added: ‘I think the second half was nowhere near as good as the first half.’
England captain Harry Kane hit back at Lineker’s criticism of the team following the 1-1 draw against Denmark in the group stages.
England captain Harry Kane hit back at Lineker’s criticism after the draw against Denmark
Lineker was previously accused of being too negative about England’s performances
After Lineker branded the performance ‘s***’, Kane accused pundits of adding extra pressure to the team.
Kane said: ‘I would never want to be disrespectful to any player, especially a player who has worn the shirt and knows what it is like to play for England.
‘But what ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise it is very hard not to listen to it now, especially for some players who are not used to it or some players who are new to the environment.
‘I always feel like they have a responsibility – I know they have got to be honest and give their opinion but also they have a responsibility of being an ex-England player.
‘The bottom line is we haven’t won anything as a nation for a long, long time and a lot of these players were part of that as well and they know how tough it is.’