England failed to beat Denmark in their crucial match of the Euro 2024 group stage.
The match ended 1-1 with Harry Kane scoring the only goal for the Three Lions, which was later canceled by Denmark midfielder Morten Hjulmand.
Not only was the result disappointing but England’s performance in the match has come under severe criticism from pundits and ex-players.
Gareth Southgate’s team were dominated by Denmark and they found it difficult to perform having talented players in their squad at every position.
Former England defender Gary Neville has pointed out why Declan Rice has failed to make an impact in the tournament so far and he has blamed Southgate for his positional change.
Neville believes because Rice is playing as a no.6, he has been unable to play his normal game.
The ex-Man United and England right-back has claimed that Rice is not good at playing from the back and he is struggling because Southgate has deployed him in a deeper role.
“Mikel Arteta moved Declan Rice out of that position [No.6] for the last 15 games of the season to bring Jorginho and [Thomas] Partey in because he’s not that good at playing there,” Neville told ITV.
“Today is the most nervous I’ve seen Declan Rice and he’s a brilliant player.
“I think he’s better moving up the pitch. If you think about what [Toni] Kroos and Rodri and Vitinha does for Portugal, these players who get the team playing… at Manchester United it was Roy Keane and Paul Scholes and it’s Jorginho for Arsenal.
“Every team that’s really great has this type of player nowadays. We don’t seem to have that. Mainoo’s probably the one, Wharton could maybe do it. We have to resolve that problem and I’m talking England generally.
“We’ve never been able to get out from the back properly in moments of pressure. When he goes to receive the ball deep with his back to play, I think he’s quite basic at that. I don’t think he’s as good as the other players who play that position.
“Where I think he’s brilliant is when he’s marauding forward, he’s up on top of the game and he’s aggressive. If you look at his touch map for Arsenal in the last part of the season, most of his touches were in that high left channel.
“For some reason we don’t have that balance in midfield and it’s a massive problem.”
Southgate’s team selection has come under scrutiny after the England manager failed to give chances to Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer.
England manager Gareth Southgate is facing criticism
The talented English youngsters spent the 90 minutes on the bench against Denmark when both of them could have made an impact.
Neville wants Rice to play in a more forward role as he feels that is where he is strong and his performances for Arsenal are a proof of that.
England play Slovenia on Tuesday in their final group game and Southgate has some big decisions to make before that.