June 20th 2024.
Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville has expressed his concern over Declan Rice's performance at Euro 2024. He believes that England manager Gareth Southgate needs to change Rice's position for the team, just like Mikel Arteta did at Arsenal. This comes after England's disappointing 1-1 draw with Denmark, which has only added to their lacklustre campaign in Frankfurt.
It's not just Rice who has been underperforming for England. Many of their star players have failed to live up to expectations, including those who have been considered as key players for the team over the past few years. Rice, in particular, has been struggling and has looked completely out of sorts on the field. This is surprising considering he is known as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and is worth £100 million.
Neville has suggested that Arteta's tactics at Arsenal may be having a negative impact on Rice's performance for England. Under Arteta, Rice was moved from a holding player or No.6 to a box-to-box No.8. However, under Southgate, he has always played as the deepest midfielder. Neville pointed out that this change in position may be causing Rice to feel nervous and not play to his full potential.
"I want to mention a player who we all love 100 per cent," said Neville on ITV. "Mikel Arteta moved Declan Rice out of that No.6 position for the last 15 games of the season to bring in Jorginho and [Thomas] Partey, because he's not that good at playing there."
Neville also believes that Rice is better suited to a more attacking role, similar to what players like Toni Kroos, Rodri, and Vitinha do for their respective teams. He compared it to the roles that Roy Keane and Paul Scholes played for Manchester United and Jorginho currently plays for Arsenal.
"We don't seem to have this player," continued Neville. "Kobbie Mainoo is probably the one. Adam Wharton could do it. We have to resolve this problem and I'm not talking about Gareth in the next four days. I'm just talking about England generally. We've never been able to get out from the back properly in moments of pressure."
Neville also pointed out that when Rice receives the ball deep and has his back to play, he is quite basic and not as good as other players in that position. However, he excels when he is marauding forward and being aggressive. This was evident in his touch map for Arsenal's games towards the end of the season, where most of his touches were in the high-left channel.
Fellow pundit and former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright disagreed with Neville's views and suggested that Rice's role at Arsenal forces him to change his game. "With the way that Rice plays at Arsenal, we've got progressive centre-halves, inverted full-backs...," said Wright. "Declan then has to move forward because there's no space for him. That's why he's pushing up the field."
With England's underwhelming performances in the tournament, Southgate will likely make changes for their final group game against Slovenia. This could mean a new midfield partner for Rice, considering Trent Alexander-Arnold's struggles. Players like Mainoo and Wharton could come in, but it's more likely that Conor Gallagher, who prefers to play in a more advanced role, will be given the opportunity.
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