“We are all so desperate”: Declan Rice calls for England calm

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has urged his England teammates to alleviate the pressure they’re placing on themselves at Euro 2024, suggesting it’s hindering their performances.

Following their 1-1 draw against Denmark, which was met with boos from the crowd, Rice admitted that the team’s desire to end England’s 58-year trophy drought might be causing them to overthink their approach.

“We are all so desperate to do the country proud,” Rice said. “We are all so desperate to win, to be leaders, to go out there and give people memories for lifetimes and sometimes I maybe feel like we put too much pressure on ourselves where we could just go out there and let it just take care of ourselves.”

Rice, who had a decent performance against Denmark with a 91% pass completion rate, echoed manager Gareth Southgate‘s sentiments, who also believes the squad might “care too much.”

Despite the underwhelming performance, England remain in a good position to qualify for the knockout stages. Rice emphasised the importance of remaining focused on the objective of qualifying, acknowledging the need for improvement in both attack and defence.

The Arsenal midfielder acknowledged the heightened expectations surrounding the team due to the exceptional individual seasons of several players, particularly the attacking quartet of Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, and Phil Foden.

“I think there is probably more pressure now from the outside just because of the seasons some of our players have had,” said Rice.

“If you look at the goals that our front four (Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden) have scored this year, it’s over 100 between them.”

Rice, however, emphasised that dealing with pressure is part and parcel of playing for England in a major tournament. He stressed the importance of the team’s collective effort and their ability to perform under pressure, drawing from their experiences in high-stakes club matches.

“Of course there is expectation because they are the best players in the world,” he added. “And that goes for everyone throughout the team. There’s going to be that pressure.

“This is England, a major tournament. But look this is our job and this is what we have to deal with.

“At the end of the day it’s us, we’ve played in high-pressure games, high-pressure environments.

“It’s all about us on the pitch to be able to get it done and obviously a draw with not the best performance.

“I think as a group, even just speaking (in the dressing room) after we know we can be collectively better and we’ll review it again and be ready for the next one.”

England’s final group game is against Slovenia on Tuesday. A draw will be enough to secure qualification for the knock-out round however they will want to top the group to ensure they do not have to play Germany in the last 16. Slovenia, meanwhile, are currently third in England’s group and the third best third-placed team at the tournament at present.