He might be brilliant tonight in an anti-jinx way, but him and Luke Shaw embody everything that's wrong with the England NT.
Constantly touted as 'top, elite, world-class players'. I have watched Arsenal all season and this guy has good positioning but he's very limited on the ball and constrains teams' buildup. I said they'd go out against Bayern while everyone tipped them to go through, and a big part of that is me not rating guys like Rice close to as highly as the English media does.
Luke Shaw is another example - I bet most English people would say he's better than Dani Carvajal (I realise they play on different sides of the pitch). However, Carvajal has been part of a very successful Real Madrid team (puke) and has always been a top player. Shaw on the other hand has been one of the main protagonists in Man United's decade of mediocrity, had one good season in 8, constantly injured, yet their fans laughably still claim he's the best LB in the world.
It's this overrating of everything English and downplaying of foreign players that pisses me off. I keep reading England have better players than Spain but Spain are a much more cohesive team. No. The latter is true but Spain's players are just as good. England have good players, but they have PL and English media hype behind them and Rice is one of the biggest examples. This is what leads to them thinking they should just walk over teams, as if their squad is full of unstoppable superstars.
Nobody can convince me that there aren't 12-15 year old midfielders in French, German and Spanish academies who will come through in imminent years and obliterate the likes of Rice's entire career.
Don't believe the hype lads and lasses.
Rant over lol.