England midfielder Declan Rice has hit out against criticism that clouds over teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold after an underwhelming start to Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate's side have collected four points from their opening two games having scored just twice and creating less expected goals than every other team in the competition excluding Scotland.
A win against Slovenia would secure top spot in Group C as the Three Lions look to improve on 2021's final defeat at the hands of Italy.
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Declan Rice calls out criticism
A number of England players, and manager Gareth Southgate, have come under fire in recent days for their lacklustre start to this summer's tournament.
Criticism has been heavily pointed towards Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold, who spent the first two games played out of position in midfield alongside Rice, despite the fact he had played just one game in the middle of the park in his senior career.
England have yet to see the best of the Liverpool academy graduate due to the play styles of the players in front of him, with Phil Foden and Harry Kane unwilling to run in behind to benefit from Alexander-Arnold's imperious long ball abilities, while his best moments have come when linking up with Bukayo Saka down the right.
“It’s funny because people were calling for Trent to play in midfield,” Rice told ITV when asked about the media attention surrounding his compatriot.
“Half the country are calling for Trent to play in midfield.
“You play him in midfield and then you want to bring him down. I don’t get it. I don’t get it at all.
“I’ll defend all of my boys until the day I never put on an England shirt. Trent is one of the best players I’ve ever seen. Don’t call for someone to play in a position and then backtrack, all because you think he’s had a bad game or something."
He added: “I’ll tell you now, Trent can play in midfield. I’ve seen it at England; I’ve seen it for Liverpool. He’s unbelievable. That’s what I say to people that you see saying that type of stuff.”
Reports on Monday suggest that Southgate is set to drop the Liverpool full-back in favour of Conor Gallagher for England's final group game against Slovenia on Tuesday.
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