It can be dangerous to use the word “choke” when dealing with professional sports, but it certainly sounded like that’s what Declan Rice was describing when he talked about England’s 2024 campaign on Friday.
The midfielder, whose performance in England’s demoralizing 1-1 draw with Denmark came in for particularly strong public criticism, spoke of the pressure Gareth Southgate’s squad finds itself under, and how they have been unable to cope with it.
“We are all so desperate to win, to be leaders, to go out there and give people memories for lifetimes,” Rice told reporters. “Sometimes I feel like maybe we put too much pressure on ourselves, where we could just go out there and let it just take care of ourselves.”
After reaching the semifinal of the 2018 World Cup, the final of the delayed 2020 Euros and the World Cup quarterfinal in Qatar in 2022, England has rarely gone into a major tournament faced with such a high level of expectation.
The hype was exacerbated by the outstanding form shown by the likes of Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane and Manchester City’s Phil Foden for their club teams.
It has not translated, however, with England underwhelming in its 1-0 victory over Serbia and downright lucky not to lose against the Danes, surrendering all momentum after taking an early lead.
“I think there is probably more pressure now from the outside, just because of the season some of our players have had,” Rice, who plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League, said.
“If you look at the goals that our front four has scored this year, it is over 100 between them. Of course, there is expectation because they are the best players in the world, and that goes for everyone throughout the team.
“There is going to be that pressure. This is England at a major tournament. But this is our job, and this is what we have to deal with.”
Will England’s campaign turn itself around when Southgate makes a series of tactical changes that now appear inevitable? Or will this go down as the ultimate England choke job, for a country that has so often come close but still counts the 1966 World Cup on home soil as its only major international trophy?
Southgate’s admission that his squad is not in strong enough physical condition after a long and grueling club season to play with as much pressing intensity as he would like, could be taken as a clear indicator Trent Alexander Arnold’s experiment as a central midfielder is about to come to an end.
The head coach remains adamant however, that while England teams of the past have been criticized for not having enough passion and desire to represent the country with distinction, that is not the case this time.
“We are not pressing well enough, with enough intensity,” Southgate said. “We have limitations in how we can do that with the physical condition. We can’t press as high up the pitch as we might have done in the qualifiers, for example. We are not keeping the ball well enough. We have to build with more control.”
“I am seeing every day that they are loving working together. I don’t think it is a lack of spark. At the moment, they -ironically – care too much and they need firm leadership. We have to guide them through the difficult period that is coming but really stay on track and focused on this challenge ahead.
“We are trying to do something that has never been done before by winning the Euros, so that is going to be a bit of a rollercoaster. It’s not going to go smoothly when you are trying to achieve extraordinary things. They are bloody difficult. We have to accept the level of expectations, we have to accept the arena we are in. We have to find a better way of playing to how we have so far.”
England rounds out its Group C schedule against Slovenia in Cologne on Tuesday, knowing that a victory will guarantee first place in the group and a theoretically easier path in the knockout bracket. Even a tie could still be enough for first, depending on the result between Denmark and Serbia at the same time.
Yet if a deep run is to follow, improvement is necessary, as much for the players’ confidence levels as anything else.
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