England’s 0-0 stalemate with their long time rivals the United States on Friday evening dampened the mood of most of, if not all of the country’s fanbase, but the Three Lions are still in a very good position to qualify from Group B.
Gareth Southgate’s team struggled to get into any sort of rhythm as the Americans frustrated them to deny England a win that would have confirmed their progression to the last 16.
SO CLOSE 😳
Christian Pulisic smashes one off the bar for the USA! #ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/yF1RMixrvH
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 25, 2022
In an exclusive interview with ITV Sport, England midfielder Declan Rice doesn’t believe the draw was a bad result.
In response to whether the midfield deserved the criticism it got on Friday, Rice cited heavy transfer gossip and reports as a reason the players get put under pressure which leads to the negative opinions from the fans.
“When there is so much talk about me and Jude [Bellingham] with price tags and transfer news, there is always going to be extra criticism and more scrutiny on our performance.
“I don’t think Friday’s result was a bad one. It was a game of two halves and they started really well. We figured out their style in the second half and overall, it is a game we can learn from.”
Rice admitted that the draw may be the best thing for this England side, as it could be an opportunity for the team to learn from their mistakes.
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“If you want to go the whole way, sometimes you have to have a blip like this and this might be exactly what we need to learn, reset and go again.”
The Three Lions go again on Tuesday evening against Wales, where a win will secure them top spot in Group B.
The main mistake was bad 1st eleven choice which wasn’t remedied in the second half. If Rice thinks their performance wasn’t too bad he should watch the video, they were awful.