England’s winning recipe will be based on Rice
MASON MOUNT hit the bar early on, which, hopefully, is what most of you watching on TV did on Saturday night.
With only a couple of thousand children in attendance, this was a school sports day of a football match – it didn’t feel like it mattered who won.
But this was a contest that mattered to Gareth Southgate, this was a contest that gave him one or two nuggets of information ahead of Qatar 2022. The World Cup might be five months away but it is only three build-up games away.
And while the mundane proceedings at Molineux were not compelling viewing, they were instructive for Southgate.
He can be assured, for example, that he has viable competition for the goalkeeping spot. In his relatively short career, Aaron Ramsdale has shown signs of eccentricity but here was impressive proof that he is a natural shot-stopper.
Considering he could have read a book and had a couple of pints during his only other England appearance – a 10-0 win in San Marino – this was a perfect opportunity to showcase his suitability as a reliable number two to Jordan Pickford.
And Ramsdale did just that, his anticipation of a couple of early Italian efforts was first class. Looking at goalkeeping options for some other major nations – Germany and Brazil, for example – Southgate’s options could be seen as thin.
At least Ramsdale’s performance was reassuring on that front.
Pickford and Ramsdale might be no Alisson and Ederson, they might be no Manuel Neuer and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, but they will do.
They will more than do. There were a couple of other good vibes for Gareth. Italy got through way too easily but Fikayo Tomori made some welltimed blocks and Reece James acquitted himself well.
But the only truly definitive lesson Southgate could take from this box-ticking exercise of a match was one he has already sat through.
Aside from Harry Kane, there is probably not a player more fundamental to the chances of
England success in Qatar than Declan Rice.
Remember the old gags about how much ground N’Golo Kante would cover in a match?
Rice is on that level. He covered so much of Molineux, it could have been a paddy field.
Remember, this was his third England start in
eight days and he completed 90 minutes in Budapest and in Munich.
And when Rice completes 90 minutes, he completes 90 minutes.
Early in the second half, the West Ham man broke up an Italian attack and ran sixty metres in possession to lead a decent England counter. That was typical of his performance. Even by today’s lung-bursting standards, Rice is a tireless performer.
Don’t forget, he started 48 matches for West Ham last season and carries a huge weight of physical and mental responsibility for his club.
That he does with such gusto and with such distinction is why most elite clubs in European football would sign him up in a heartbeat.
With the World Cup in Qatar less than four months into the new Premier League season, Rice might consider the upheaval of a move this summer to be disruptive. Maybe a move can wait a year.
But wherever he is playing his club football, Rice, 23, is going to be a mainstay of this England team at Qatar 2022, fitness permitting, of course.
For an hour, he tried to lift this England performance out of its ordinariness and deserved to be given an early cut after the effort he was putting in.
But when he was replaced by
Kalvin Phillips, his disappointment was tangible.
Even amongst this highlycommitted group, no one appears to be more devoted to the national cause than Rice.
Southgate did not need this type of kickabout to realise that – or to realise that probably only Kane is of greater value to England.
But on a dull Saturday night, it was nice to be reminded.