Gareth Southgate believes that Rice already has a good amount of leadership experience despite only being 25 years of age.
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England will wrap up their international duties this month with a friendly over Belgium on Tuesday. This comes on the back of a 1-0 loss to Brazil in another friendly which happened at the weekend. Hence, the Three Lions will be keen for an immediate response against the European heavyweight. However, it will not be easy for the home side due to the massive injury crisis they are suffering currently. The hosts will be missing several key first-team players ahead of this much-awaited friendly.
However, this situation would provide opportunities for many fringe players to showcase their abilities. One player who could benefit from this scenario is Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice. Even though Rice has been an important part of the England setup over the years, the holding midfielder will get the opportunity to captain his side against Belgium. Notably, it will be Rice’s 50th appearance for the Three Lions.
“I think I have grown so much as a player and a person since I first came into the group at 19. I was probably a bit of a nervous player when I first came into the England squad, but as time has gone on I’ve played more big games, more games at major tournaments. I have enjoyed every moment. Fifty caps, it is a ‘pinch me’ moment, it will be an honour. On my 50th cap, to walk out at Wembley in front of my family and friends, it is a great honour, I’m a bit speechless,” Rice, quoted on skysports.com, said ahead of the Belgium fixture.
Speaking about the decision, England head coach Gareth Southgate believes that Rice already has a good amount of leadership experience despite only being 25 years of age. “He has great leadership experience already at a tender age and I think it’s a brilliant opportunity for some of our younger players to show leadership and experience it. Some of our core group are not with us, so it’s a different dynamic, a great opportunity for others to step up, lead and grow. A lot of the players involved with the squad are the future and the more of those experiences they can have that’s helpful for everybody,” Southgate said in his pre-match press conference.
Southgate then shifted the attention to his team’s set-plays. He believes it is an area where his side can improve. “It’s something we’ve looked at a lot over the winter, actually. We haven’t been delivering the same numbers over the last 12 months and in particular against the highest level of teams. Of course the highest level of teams defend those set-pieces better – Brazil defended their box really well the other day. Their midfield and defenders did a very good job on that,” he explained.
The head coach added: “But our delivery has to be more consistent. There are lots of elements – runs, timing of runs, the quality of delivery – there are so many aspects to a set play that needs to be right. We’ll have more time to work on those things ahead of the summer but it’s definitely an area we have to be better because for the number of set plays we had we didn’t create enough clear chances the other day.”
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