Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has left a message for England’s Euro-2024 critics.
One of those critics was former England international Gary Lineker in his podcast. The words didn’t sit well with Declan Rice, who decided to respond.
“I’m not disappointed because I’ve been playing football for a long time, I know how it works. That’s why it doesn’t bother me at all. They’re entitled to their opinion. They’re on television, they say what they want”, he said.
“I know some of them personally, they’re nice guys. But, as I said, they’ve also been in our shoes. Sometimes, before they speak, they have to think that they have been in my shoes, in the shoes of our other players, and that they have not had good results in tournaments“, he commented.
The Arsenal player underlined England’s leadership in the Euro-2024 group and criticised the way Southgate’s team had been analysed in the media.
“I don’t know why we think this (England’s Euro-2024 debut) is such a negative thing. We talk as if we’re going to go out of the tournament. We’re top of the group. We have to stay positive and optimistic”, he lamented.
Finally, Rice called for support for the English players taking part in the tournament.
“Our players, like Phil Foden, (Bukayo) Saka, Jude Bellingham? tell them they’re the best players in the world. Make them read that and think: ‘I’m going to go out there and give it my all’, instead of reading the negative comments, getting that into their heads and thinking they can’t play a certain way.”
“That’s how I think and I’m sure we have a lot of people like that, which is a good thing“, he concludes.