Declan Rice offers surprising response to ‘bitter’ James McClean criticism

Declan Rice says James McClean’s criticism may have come from “bitterness towards me not playing for Ireland”, although he was keen to praise what he had thought was a good relationship with the retired winger. McClean created headlines as a pundit on Irish national station RTE, by describing his former international teammate as “overrated” and “not world class”, with follow-up comments on the passive nature of his game. Rice won three caps for Ireland in 2018, where he was a teammate to McClean, before switching to England.

The Arsenal midfielder was mostly conciliatory when the comments were put to him, albeit with one bite. Rice similarly referenced McClean’s comments from 2019, when he said those not “proud” to play for Ireland should “sod off and play for someone else”.

“Do you know what? I played with James for Ireland for three games and I got on with him really well. I am not going to sit here and slag him off. I thought he was a really top guy. When I left Ireland to come to England, I heard a few things he was obviously not happy about. He made comments a few years ago.

“It is what it is. I am not going to sit here and say anything about him. He’s had a great career himself - I think he is coming to the end of his career now and he’s got over a hundred caps for Ireland.

“It would be easy for me to sit here and say something back to him but, like I said, we are at opposite ends of our careers now - he’s 35 and I’m 25. I’ve known him, I’ve played with him, he’s entitled to his opinion and I’ve had to fight a load of those opinions from other people before.” Rice then offered the kicker.

“It might be a bit of bitterness towards me not playing for Ireland but I’ve not got a bad word to say about him, to be honest. I see the comments but I don’t try to put too much energy into it.

“It is what it is and you move on. You live and learn.”

Rice meanwhile sought to play down concerns over both player workload and England’s freshness, by saying he wants “to play as many games as possible”.

England’s Euro 2024 group match against Slovenia on Tuesday will be Rice’s 126th for club and country in the last two years.

“Yeah I didn't know that stat, that is crazy. I want to play as many games as possible, I can't complain about the schedule. It is such a political one because I see the PFA is getting involved with Fifa at the minute and they are saying there are too many games going on and this, that and the other.

“But us as professionals, it is our job to go out there and play and perform and be at our peak fitness, it is down to us to go out there and be at that level after a long season in the Premier League.”

Rice did appear to play down the concerns about whether England are sufficiently fit to play the pressing game the manager wants. Gareth Southgate himself had raised the physical issue after the 1-1 draw with Denmark, expressly stating some of the squad were not in the “condition” to apply the planned tactical approach. Rice then contributed to that by talking about how England’s “connections” were off, but he clarified this by stating that he meant time to get in tune.

“We had a week off but it is about mentally preparing yourself and also physically getting yourself into a position where you can go again the tournament.

“If I wasn't fit enough or the lads weren't fit enough we shouldn't be here in the first place, we should be able to compete for seven games, whether they go to extra-time, we have got a squad of 26 players that are fit enough, strong enough, fast enough and ready to go the whole way.

“That is a crazy stat about the games, I can understand why it could come across that way but I think we have got a squad here that is prepared to go 120 minutes in the knockout.”

Speaking further on the matter to broadcasters, he added: “It’s ridiculous. Let them keep questioning it. We are built to play these types of seasons. Because we are sitting in a low block, people automatically assume we are tired and leggy and not fit enough - if we’re not fit enough to compete for 90 minutes, we shouldn’t be footballers.”

Rice then elaborated on the training time.

“From the moment I walked into Arsenal in preseason until the last game of the season, you get together as a collective and you work on that every single day. Whereas here you only get a week, 10 days max in an international break during the season. There’s a massive difference between getting a whole year to work on something and only getting a certain number of days. It’s about getting the team together when we’re here and buying into how Gareth wants us to press and how he wants us to play.

“I mentioned the other day that it’s not as straightforward as it seems pressing a back five when there’s only three of them because you get overloaded on that side of the pitch. But it’s about getting that balance right, choosing when to go and picking your moments. You’ll see an England team tomorrow that will have a different pressing style that we’ve been working on. I think you’ll see a team that wants to be on the front foot and wants to press Slovenia high up the pitch.”