It’s a conundrum for England that by far their best defensive midfielder is also one of their best attacking outlets.
Declan Rice can do it all, but the fact he is so competent in deep-lying positions – not an area where England are blessed with tonnes of talent – has at times left him a bit pigeonholed.
Fortunately, Thomas Tuchel seems to have hit on a solution that has helped England into much more encouraging form ahead of next year’s World Cup – and one that we have also seen play out for Rice under Mikel Arteta at club level recently.
Thomas Tuchel may have ended England’s four-year wait for ideal Declan Rice partner
Declan Rice is one of England’s best players – if they can only get the most they can out of him (Image credit: Getty Images)
Former England skipper Alan Shearer highlighted the benefits Arsenal got from giving Rice for license in their recent 2-0 win over West Ham – albeit only after a first-half injury to Martin Odegaard forced a change of plans.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Shearer said: “They started off with [Eberechi] Eze and Odegaard a little bit further forward, as you’d expect, with Declan Rice perhaps just being that little sitter in midfield.
“There’s nothing wrong with that: he’s very, very good at it, and Arsenal were still creating their chances and getting into reasonable forward positions. Rice is still the one that’s trying to pull the strings as the deepest midfielder, and he plays a brilliant pass in for Saka to create a chance where he’s just offside.
“But then Odegaard goes off, Zubimendi comes on, and all of a sudden Zubimendi is the one who’s sitting and Rice is 15-20 yards further forward. He gets in the exact same position Eze [missed a chance from earlier], and he gets his goal.”
Alan Shearer feels Declan Rice is at his best when he is allowed too get forward (Image credit: Getty Images)
Shearer went on to highlight several other opportunities Arsenal were able to create thanks to Rice’s runs into advanced areas against his former club, with Rice finding particularly joy operating in the channels.
“I think Rice is a better player [getting forward] than he is sitting, albeit he can do both jobs equally well” is an exquisite bit of ‘Shearering’ – but it’s easy to see what he means.
Yes, Rice is a superb defensive midfielder – but his attacking talents are so impressive that it feels like a waste not to use them.
Finding ways to make that happen for England have proven frustratingly difficult in the past, however.
Kalvin Phillips was a great partner for Declan Rice at Euro 2020 (Image credit: PA Images)
In total fairness, it’s not like attempts haven’t been made. The long-standing issue is who, exactly, should go into the number 6 or 8 role alongside him to ease his defensive burden.
Kalvin Phillips did a sensational job of that as the pair featured together at Euro 2020, – so good, in fact, England got the final and Phillips was voted as England player of the year.
But Phillips’ move to Manchester City the following year spelt the beginning of the end for his England career thanks to a lack of club minutes making it nigh on impossible to select him.
Jordan Henderson had a go at the 2022 World Cup, to decent but not amazing effect. At Euro 2024, Sir Gareth Southgate experimented with Trent Alexander-Arnold as Rice’s partner before ditching him in favour of Kobbie Mainoo. Both partners meant Rice had to take on a more conservative role.
Declan Rice generally stopped at the edge of the opposition third against Serbia at Euro 2024, allowing Alexander-Arnold to overlap instead (Image credit: WhoScored.com)
We have a very nice touchstone for the difference a partner can make to Rice’s game for England.
Under Southgate at the Euros last year, they laboured to a 1-0 win over Serbia in the group stage. Last month, they hammered the same opposition 5-0 under Tuchel. (Rice provided two assists, but both were from set pieces, so we’re not going to read too much into that)
The issue with both Alexander-Arnold and Mainoo is that they are both attack-minded players who like to get in and around the opposition box or – in TAA’s case – drift out wide to deliver crosses.
As we can see from WhoScored.com touch maps, that meant that Rice ended up spending a lot of the Euros last year operating almost exclusively in the central third of the pitch, with little latitude for breaking into the final third except on set pieces.
The roles were largely reversed under Thomas Tuchel this year as Elliott Anderson held off to allow Rice to enter the Serbia box (Image credit: WhoScored.com)
In September’s 5-0 win, however, Rice took on the reverse role as Elliot Anderson played the middle-third-only midfield role.
All of Rice’s touches in the opposition half were all either in the channels or in and around the opposition box, where he was able to help England do maximum damage on their way to scoring five.
Rice’s role was so advanced, in fact, that when Noni Madueke broke forward up the wing off Anderson’s lovely flick, the first player making a centre-forward’s run up the middle was not Harry Kane, but Rice.
That instinctive move up the middle helped occupy the one defender who might otherwise have had a chance of stopping clubmate Madueke on his route to scoring England’s second goal.
Declan Rice was the most advanced player in support of Noni Madueke on the way to England’s second goal against Serbia last month (Image credit: England on YouTube)
Against Wales on Thursday night, Rice and Anderson took it in turns a bit more, alternating in their efforts to push forward and join Morgan Rogers in and around the box.
But the relationship and understanding between the two was again solid, and their swapping and changing played a part in helping to bamboozle the Wales defence.
After four long years, Tuchel might just have found his own Kalvin Phillips: a player who may not be as glamorous as some of the alternatives, but whose value to the side comes in what he does to help get the very most out of Rice’s talents.
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