As the fallout from England's heartbreaking World Cup campaign continues - only somewhat sweetened by a bronze medal secured in a 6-4 win over France on Saturday night - Gary Neville has claimed one star player was a 'massive problem' for Thomas Tuchel.
Of course, criticism of the side should outweigh any pride or so-called glory that comes with their best finish since 1966. England have made a habit of going deep into tournaments only to crumble when the pressure is at its greatest. They have not beaten a side ranked in the top four of the FIFA Men's World Rankings in a knockout match since the rankings were introduced in 1992, while Gareth Southgate had already guided them to two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final before this summer.
A bronze medal may help paper over the cracks for some, but it does little to disguise the shortcomings that ultimately cost England a place in the final. Tuchel has borne much of the criticism, having chosen to sit back and defend a slender lead that his side failed to protect in a dramatic last-minute defeat to Argentina in the semi-finals.
And while it is the German who has been tasked with using his tournament pedigree to get England over the finishing line, another player is feeling the heat too - though perhaps through no real fault of his own.
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Neville Names England Star As 'Massive Problem' For Tuchel at World Cup
Thomas Tuchel and England players vs ArgentinaREUTERS/Lee Smith
Neville is wary of being too critical of England given he never expected the team to reach the final even before a ball was kicked. But he also couldn't help thinking that the fitness issues of Declan Rice ultimately weighed England down in their hunt for a first trophy in six decades.
The Manchester United legend believes Rice, one of the most important members of the squad, was only half-fit and then suffered a bout of sickness in the knockout stages. "The biggest positive from England’s point of view was getting to a semi-final," Neville said on The Peter Crouch Podcast, going on to explain he thought they'd crash out before then. On the talent of the squad, he continued:
"For me, not having Declan Rice in the tournament, which has effectively been the case… not having him is a massive problem. Declan Rice fit and flying and running all over everybody… [Elliot] Anderson has been in there in that midfield pretty much on his own at times. I love Declan to bits, and he’s our best midfielder by a mile, but he’s been nowhere near it physically in the tournament."
Rice has been dealing with a hamstring issue and had an injection at the back end of last year to deal with it. The 27-year-old also had a period of illness during the World Cup and was withdrawn at half-time during England's 2-1 quarter-final win over Norway.
Arsenal played 63 matches in all competitions last season as they reached the Champions League final as well as winning the Premier League title. He played in 55 of those and, with his Arsenal teammates, joined the England camp later as they took a few days rest.
Declan Rice's Thoughts on World Cup Heartbreak
Declan RiceSam Navarro / IMAGN Images via Reuters
Although ‘gutted’ about the semi-final defeat to Argentina, Rice insisted he was ‘proud’ of his England teammates after they secured a third-place finish at the World Cup. The midfielder said, as per Metro: "This is the best England group for a very long time. That’s a fact. No-one can take that away from us.
"I think we can be proud as a group - we are just gutted we lost in that semi-final. We’re tired of saying we’re proud of coming in semi-finals and quarter-finals - we want to win with England ultimately. But to come third in this tournament is a real achievement.
"We’re so close, honestly. There’s been so much talk about this group over the last few years going out of tournaments. There’s been semi-final exits, quarter-finals, finals."
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He concluded: "I think we need to keep going. I do think it’s close. It’s a game of small margins. It’s football and the other night we lost on margins and in the boxes."
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