Lauren James talks on the relentless criticism received, as she says many people assume you’re just not trying.
People assume you’re not trying’ – Lauren James on England criticism.
Lauren James, a forward for England, claims that at Euro 2025, supporters were “too quick to judge” her.
The 23-year-old claimed in an interview with BBC Sport that she was unable to fully appreciate the Lionesses’ historic victory in Switzerland because of injury issues and criticism during the tournament.
James was reportedly happy to see other England players miss penalties in the quarterfinal match against Sweden after her own spot-kick was saved, since she was afraid of receiving racial taunts.
“A lot of the time fans don’t know what is going on, they only know what is in front of them,” she said.
“They don’t know what someone is dealing with, what is going on in their life. I always say to the fans, be mindful, you don’t know what someone is dealing with out there. You could just be adding on to it.
“No player goes into a game or into a season thinking I’m not going to try. It was a Euros, they don’t come around often. You could have one leg hanging off, I will still tell you that I’m going to try to play.”
James started all six games as the Lionesses won the title, and England manager Sarina Wiegman saw him as a key player during their European campaign in Switzerland.
However, she was unable to play at her peak in the latter phases of the competition, and injuries forced her to leave the game at halftime in both the semi-final match against Italy and the first half of the final victory over Spain.
James will now miss the start of Chelsea’s 2025–26 season due to an injury she sustained against Sweden.
Speaking to BBC Sport at the squad’s Cobham training site while still wearing a protective boot, James said she had attempted to play through the agony to support the team.
“I was obviously fighting to be fit for the Euros, then suffered another injury in the quarter-finals, and tried to play on,” she revealed.
“Then people assume you’re not trying, but at the end of the day I’m in a ridiculous amount of pain which caused me to come off at half-time in the semi-finals and before half-time in the final.”
James started all six games as the Lionesses won the title, and England manager Sarina Wiegman saw him as a key player during their European campaign in Switzerland.
However, she was unable to play at her peak in the latter phases of the competition, and injuries forced her to leave the game at halftime in both the semi-final match against Italy and the first half of the final victory over Spain.
James will now miss the start of Chelsea’s 2025–26 season due to an injury she sustained against Sweden.
Speaking to BBC Sport at the squad’s Cobham training site while still wearing a protective boot, James said she had attempted to play through the agony to support the team.
“I know when something is not right,” she added. “But we had no more subs left [against Sweden] so I had to stay on the pitch. And then it’s a Euros semi-final, I didn’t think it was a major injury so I tried to play [against Italy]. Then we’re in the final, I can’t not play, so I tried again.
“And obviously we won, but I didn’t feel great. I didn’t play how I wanted to play, I couldn’t dribble, I couldn’t run properly.”
When asked if the injury problems and the criticism affected how much she enjoyed the success of back-to-back titles, she said “for sure”.
“It was an amazing achievement, but during the last two games I wasn’t able to help the team,” she added. “To also get negative comments, from fans and the public – sometimes people are too quick to judge.”
What sort of comments?
“England are playing with 10 men, she’s lazy, she’s not trying,” revealed James. “I’m like, I’m injured! It does put you down.”