Jamie Carragher has highlighted something he saw Arsenal No.41 Declan Rice doing during Thursday’s 1-1 against Denmark in Group C.
The Three Lions struggled against the Danes after taking an early lead thanks to Harry Kane’s goal in the 18th minute, with Gareth Southgate’s side opting to sit deep and invite attacks.
That eventually backfired in the 34th minute when Morten Hjulmand scored a superb strike to equalise, although Jamie Carragher felt Arsenal No.41 Declan Rice, and also Trent Alexander-Arnold, were doing something that hindered England…
What Jamie Carragher saw Declan Rice doing in England 1-1 Denmark
The 46-year-old wrote on X (previously Twitter) during the Group C clash that he felt Rice and the Liverpool No.66 were operating too close to John Stones and Marc Guehi.
Carragher suggested that the defensive duo should have been shouting at the pair of central midfielders to push up the pitch and get away from them, in order for the ball to be carried out of defence.
The man from Bootle wrote: “Trent & Rice are far too deep when Denmark have the ball, they are too concerned with what’s behind them. They need to stop what’s in front of them. Centre backs need to be screaming at them to get out to enable them to push out.”
Southgate eventually decided to mix things up just eight minutes into the second half, taking Alexander-Arnold off in place of Conor Gallagher in the 53rd minute, so the England boss clearly felt Rice was the better performer of the two, at least.
Gareth Southgate is nullifying the Arsenal No.41
Of course, it is hard to get ten of England’s greatest outfield players to gel together, although it feels as if Southgate can eek so much more out of Rice.
At Arsenal, we often see the £105m man driving forward into the attacking third, where his pace and power causes confusion for the opposition, and chances are created for others.
Even in an individual regard, Rice is strong at making attacks count on his own, impressively scoring seven goals and providing ten assists in 51 appearances last season.
However, Southgate has the 25-year-old sitting far too deep, as Carragher states, where a playmaker such as Toni Kroos would be more effective, not an elite ball carrier like Rice.
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Hopefully, things change in the next – and final – clash of Group C against Slovenia on Tuesday…