Declan Rice may have only turned 20 in January and does not have an England cap to his name, but he has to start in midfield against the Czech Republic on Friday.
Age is no barrier for Gareth Southgate. In October, he took England’s youngest XI since 1959 to Spain and returned with a brilliant 3-2 win.
By calling up Rice, Southgate believes he is good enough. In terms of his all-round attributes, he has more to offer than Eric Dier or Jordan Henderson.
Rice reads the game superbly, snuffing out danger and winning the ball back for his team.
As our stats show, he outperforms Henderson and Dier this season in terms of making interceptions and winning 50-50 duels. I’ve been impressed by his range of passing, too.
Going forward, Rice is not afraid to shoot while his aerial ability makes him a threat at set-pieces.
All he lacks is experience but for Southgate, if you’re good enough then you’re old enough.
Ramcikmrsy
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Buffaloe
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Liked Rice before his latest interview. Totally disrespected the ROI team with his comments. Needed to give credit for the years they had him.
Veravere
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Seeing him week in, week out just sees him getting better. The complete player
headache
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Get this kid in straight away, have watched him stand up to some fantastic midfield players this season and have already placed a bet he will be at man city within 2 seasons. The next 4 years look very interesting!
Haydenen
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Ah come this lad nothing special and a man with very poor integrity what would ya expect though...
Elenadover
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Well if you are compairing him to Dyer and the awful Henderson, he's got to start! It's a no brainer!!
starryen
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100% agree. Rice is lightyears ahead with very little experience
tutorial
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If he does get on, as with all the youngsters, they need to be forgiven for any rickets they make. And not beaten up by the press. But I am optimistic this will be the case.