‘Not right’… Micah Richards concerned about what he saw from Declan Rice in his last England display

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Micah Richards has admitted that he was left concerned by what he saw from Arsenal star Declan Rice as England were beaten by Iceland in their final warm-up game before Euro 2024 last week.

Gareth Southgate will hope that his side is simply emulating Spain in the 2010 World Cup and Argentina 14 years later and getting ready to peak at the perfect time.

England suffered another humiliating loss to Iceland as they prepared to head out to Germany for the start of Euro 2024.

There were worrying signs across the pitch, with no player staking a particularly strong claim to start the opening game of their tournament against Serbia on Sunday.

Micah Richards concerned by Declan Rice display in England defeat

But it seems that Micah Richards was particularly worried by what he saw in the middle of the park.

Declan Rice has been such a consistent performer for club and country over the last few years, and proved to be a game-changing signing for Arsenal following his move last summer.

But speaking on The Rest is Football, Richards suggested that he almost abandoned his responsibilities against Iceland at Wembley.

“There were a couple of areas when I was watching against Iceland, when Declan Rice pushes on and Mainoo was in there with him, the balance is not right,” he said.

“It’s almost like they all go. No, there’s a role that you have to play for Arsenal, where you can go forward a little bit more, but Rice’s role in this England team is to protect his defence. And there were too many times against Iceland we were opened up too much, and I just think midfield’s not just about what you can do on the ball, it’s about tactically, what you can do off the ball.”

Wake-up call Three Lions potentially needed

It seems imperative that England fans do not get carried away off the back of the defeat to Iceland, and actually, it could prove to be the perfect wake-up call.

England will be one of the heavy favourites for the tournament, so the Three Lions would have been forgiven for getting slightly carried away about how easy it would be to get through the group at the very least.

Clearly, teams are going to try and frustrate Southgate’s side, and how England handle that is going to dictate how easy they make their run for themselves.

Rice has been absolutely outstanding for Arsenal, so he will not need anyone to tell him that he was below par against Iceland. And you would not be at all surprised if he quickly put that display behind him when the tournament gets going.