‘We could have taken more responsibility’
Declan Rice has opened up on the heartbreak of the final of the European Championships last summer, admitting that England got their tactics wrong.
England were beaten on penalties by Italy despite taking an early lead through Luke Shaw after Leonardo Bonucci’s equaliser in the second-half ensured the game went the distance.
Despite the Three Lions being ranked as an outside favourite to win the tournament, people felt the defeat to the Azzurri was a missed opportunity and looking back now, he and his teammates approached the game the wrong way.
“As players, we could have taken a bit more responsibility and had the ball a little bit more,” he told Gary Neville on the Overlap.
“We went 1-0 up and started so well. We were on the front foot, everyone was really buzzing for it. We were aggressive, tackles were going in strong, winning the headers, winning the second ball.”
Rice then described how the game unfolded before their eyes and admitted that allowing Italy to have more possession was one of their downfalls in their defeat.
“I remember in the last ten minutes of the first half we were dropping back a bit and we were pressured. Their midfield was known through the whole tournament of having loads of the ball and for 35 minutes they couldn’t get into the rhythm of passing the ball.
“The space opened up and their players were starting to get on the ball to make things happen. Their tails were up and ours were a little bit shocked. From there, it’s always tough to get back into it (after conceding).
“It’s where you need to go again and we didn’t really do that, which was gutting because of the players we had on the pitch and on the bench. It’s a shame we couldn’t nick another goal or keep more control of the ball.”
There’s always next time.
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