Jermaine Jenas slams West Ham midfielder Declan Rice for England v Germany
Declan Rice was named in England’s XI for their Euro 2020 clash with Germany on Tuesday, but the West Ham star made an inauspicious start at Wembley.
It was billed as perhaps the biggest fixture of the round of 16 stage as old enemies England and Germany faced off once again on the big stage.
Rice started all three group games for The Three Lions and Gareth Southgate elected to place his faith in the Irons midfielder once again on Tuesday.
However, it was a difficult beginning to proceedings for the 22-year-old as he was shown a yellow card in the first ten minutes for hauling down Leon Goretzka as he bore down on goal.
BBC commentator Jermaine Jenas, a former England international, was unimpressed by Rice’s defensive positioning during the live coverage of the match [29/06/21].
“It’s exactly the situation you’ve got to be careful of,” Jenas said.
“Declan Rice got himself into a terrible position in midfield, he was kind of in no-man’s-land in midfield and he wasn’t pressing in midfield, and he wasn’t close enough to his back four.
“He’s got to make a decision on whether to sit and stay with the team or fully commit to the press.”
Fast start
It was a quick beginning to the match as Germany burst out of the traps looking to cause a new-look England side some trouble.
The Three Lions altered their formation to adjust to their visitors, and it meant Rice playing next to Kalvin Phillips in a flat two in midfield, with no midfielder behind or in front.
Evidently, the players needed time to bed into the game and get used to their new formation.
Rice suffered as a result of this, unaware of exactly what he should be doing.
It allowed Goretzka to burst through, and Rice eventually had to foul him in order to prevent a clear shot on goal.
Some of the blame could be apportioned to Rice, but the defence was also missing-in-action as well.
However, the ever-reliable Rice made up for a slight lapse in judgement, as he was the one who blocked the goalbound free-kick, bravely diverting it away from Jordan Pickford.
In other West Ham news, the Irons have lodged an ‘Important’ bid for this 25-year-old La Liga star.
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