England is still coming to grips with its heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Argentina in the World Cup semifinal less than 48 hours ago.
Everyone involved is feeling all of the emotions: anger, disappointment, confusion, and sadness. Most of the blame has been directed toward manager Thomas Tuchel, who parked the bus for much of the second half. As we all saw, that strategy didn’t work, as Argentina came in wave after wave before inevitably equalizing and taking the lead.
Others, however, have pointed the finger more at the players, including former player, manager, and now pundit Graeme Souness, who believes England’s midfield was overhyped, particularly Declan Rice.
“Anderson is 22, he could get better but Declan Rice is 27, he won’t get any better. I don’t see enough football in the two of them. I think these two are limited. Declan Rice for me, limited. People talk about Declan Rice being a world class midfielder. I think he might be a centre-half.
There’s nothing to dislike about him in terms of this attitude, his athleticism, his commitment. My criticism is this – he doesn’t have enough football in him,”
The 27-year-old Rice has yet to score a goal and has registered one assist in six appearances so far at this World Cup.
It should be noted that Rice is not known for his goal-scoring, but rather for acting as a field general in the middle, responsible on both sides of the ball.
He also battled through injuries and an illness throughout the tournament, which you have to imagine greatly affected his performance on the pitch.
Nonetheless, if you’re playing, you’re fair game for criticism, and Rice wasn’t at his best at this World Cup, so he’s going to hear it some in the aftermath of England’s disappointing exit.
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