After an underwhelming 1-0 win over Serbia followed by a 1-1 draw with Denmark, many pundits have taken aim at the Three Lions and questioned several players as well as manager Gareth Southgate. Gary Lineker, Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher are among a host of names to have publicly called for improvement – with ex-Ireland star James McClean even labelling Rice ‘very overrated’.
The Arsenal midfielder has since attempted to play down the criticism though, calling for former England stars to unite in building up the squad rather than fuelling an aura of negativity around the team.
Asked whether he is disappointed by the criticism from ex-players, Rice told ITV Football: “No, I’m not disappointed because I’ve played football long enough now, I know how they work.
“That’s why I really do not get bothered about it all. Look, they’re entitled to their opinion. They’re on TV. They’re saying whatever they want. I know some of them personally. They’re great guys, but like I said, they’ve been in our shoes as well and sometimes just to have that thought process just before they speak that they have been where I’m sat, where our other players have sat and not done well at tournaments.
“I don’t know why we feel like such a negative thing. We’re talking like we’re going out the tournament here. We’re top of the group, we need to stay positive, stay upbeat, let’s have some positivity going into games.
“Let’s give players the best confidence in the world. Your players like your Phil Foden’s, your (Bukayo) Saka’s, your Jude Bellingham’s, tell them they’re the best players in the world, make them read that and think ‘I’m going out there to perform and give it absolutely everything’ rather than reading the negative comments sitting on their mind and then think they can’t play a certain way. That’s the way I think about it.”
Rice isn’t the first star to hit back at the critics this week, with skipper Harry Kane publicly jumping to the defence of his troops and calling for ex-England stars to remember how they fared during international competitions in years gone by.
He said: “Maybe ex-players or ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise… it’s very hard not to listen to [what they say] now, especially for some players who are not used to it or some players who are new to the environment.
“So I always feel like they have a responsibility. I know they’ve got to be honest and give their opinion, but also they have a responsibility of being an ex-England player. The bottom line is, we haven’t won anything as a nation for a long, long time. And, you know, a lot of these ex-players were part of that as well.”