Roy Keane labels England fans 'ARROGANT' for expecting to 'win every tournament'

Roy Keane has criticised 'arrogant' English fans for expecting to 'win every tournament over the last 30 years' ahead of the Three Lions' crucial semi-final against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

The former Manchester United star, who captained the Republic of Ireland at international level, urged that England should 'focus on winning' rather than worrying about the 'weight of the jersey' in major tournaments.

The Three Lions, who have not lifted a major trophy since triumphing at the 1966 World Cup over half a century ago, are two wins away from winning Euro 2024 under Gareth Southgate.

Southgate came agonisingly close at the last European Championships, losing narrowly on penalties to Italy at Wembley Stadium.

Speaking about the pressure of the occasion ahead of Wednesday's match against the Netherlands in Dortmund, Keane urged that 'arrogant' English fans aren't helping by piling pressure on the team.

'You talk about England not having won anything for 30, 40 years, that's not on this group of players. Focus on winning the game of football and history will take care of itself,' he said.

'When you talk about the weight of the jersey, I think there's a bit of arrogance that comes with that. The consequences of a mistake, that is part of top level sport, you have to deal with that and over the years maybe they haven't done that well enough.

Ian Wright, who joined Keane on the ITV panel, quickly interrupted and said: 'Roy, you say about arrogance, we've got players who are good enough to win. We've got players that are capable of winning this tournament.'

Keane replied: 'We've been hearing that every tournament, for 30-50 years. To say you've had players to win every tournament over the last 30 years, I don't agree with that.'

Fellow pundit Gary Neville was part of England's 'golden generation' of the mid-2000s, which boasted a myriad of superstars including the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and John Terry.

Despite their talented squad, the golden generation failed to go further than the quarter-finals during all major competitions between 2000 and 2012.

Referencing his side's shortcomings, Neville said: 'As the golden generation, we underperformed. Players had unbelievable reputations, but put the England shirt on and were worried if it went wrong.

'It's heartening to see that Gareth said at start of tournament they were worried about outside criticism. This time they've had to come through it.

Appearing unconvinced by Neville's comments, Keane added: 'Please educate me on the golden generation. Having good players doesn't make you a good team. If you have solid good group of players, proper men, they'll deal with the pressure, it's part of the pressure of winning tournaments.'