Rice happy with England display after ‘rusty’ start to the season with Arsenal

Declan Rice says he felt “back to myself” in England’s win against the Republic of Ireland yesterday after what he described as a “rusty” start to the season with Arsenal.

Rice scored the first goal and made the second for Jack Grealish as England won 2-0 in Dublin to open their Nations League campaign in fine fashion.

The midfielder, who played three times for the Republic in friendly games before switching his allegiance to England, received a hostile reception at the Aviva Stadium but silenced the jeers with an impressive display.

“Obviously I came back to Arsenal late,” he said. “To be honest, I’ve not been feeling 100 per cent fit so far. Kind of been doing my pre-season in the Premier League.

“Today I feel like I took a real step. I was feeling back to myself, feeling springy, feeling like I can run around the pitch, feeling more powerful.”

Rice was controversially sent off in Arsenal’s last game, a home draw against Brighton, and admitted he knew he needed to perform well while on England duty.

He added: “I feel like I took another step, which is obviously going to help me at Arsenal. I felt really good, and I knew I needed a big performance, because so far this season obviously I got sent off last game and the first two games I was a little bit rusty.”

A night to remember for @_DeclanRice! 💫 pic.twitter.com/34V7bNBLeD

— England (@England) September 7, 2024

The game in Dublin was England’s first under interim boss Lee Carsley, who took over following the resignation of Gareth Southgate after the 2-1 defeat to Spain in the final of Euro 2024.

And Rice has been impressed with how the former England Under-21 boss has gone about his work over the past week.

“Obviously, we had such an amazing time with Gareth. Some of the best memories that we probably could ever imagine. The only thing that was missing there was, obviously, we didn’t win a trophy,” he said.

“But with Lee now, I think he’s adapted so well to the job.

“He’s given a lot of lads a lot of confidence to go and play. Look at Jack [Grealish] today. I think Jack’s best when he’s got an arm around him and he’s told how good he is.

“I think Lee’s done that this week and Jack went out there, and when Jack’s playing with personality and confidence he’s one of the best players in the world.

“I think that’s what Lee’s going to keep bringing into this team.”