90min

Declan Rice labelled 'useless' at Euro 2024 by ex-Spurs player

  • Rafael van der Vaart slates Declan Rice for England performances
  • Ex-Tottenham forward throws about "useless" to describe Arsenal star
  • Rice was among the best forward-passing midfielders at Euro 2024

By Jamie Spencer

Declan Rice helped England reach another European Championship final
Declan Rice helped England reach another European Championship final / Dan Mullan/GettyImages
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Former Tottenham Hotspur star Rafael van der Vaart has labelled Declan Rice "useless" after lambasting the Arsenal and England midfielder for his style of play.

Arsenal signed Rice in a £105m deal last summer, a record transfer fee for an English player, while since 2019 he has been a staple of an England side that has reached two major finals.

Yet Van der Vaart, who spent two years at Spurs after two years at Real Madrid and briefly appeared in the 2010 World Cup that Netherlands lost to Spain, isn't convinced by his ability.

"£100m for Declan Rice...what does he do?" Van der Vaart said on Dutch broadcaster NOS.

"He comes to collect a ball only to pass it back to John Stones. He is useless. If you are truly worth £100m, then you should be able to play a ball forward."

Gareth Southgate, Declan Rice
England were beaten by a late Spain goal / Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/GettyImages

Despite Van der Vaart's criticism, stats prior to the final revealed Rice to have made more successful passes into the final third during the Euro 2024 knockout rounds than any other midfielder, with 90. Comparably, Jude Bellingham made 71, while Spain maestro Fabian Ruiz managed 68 and Rodri, who was Spain's linchpin and was eventually named Player of the Tournament, didn't appear in the top five.

At club level in 2023/24, Rice helped Arsenal close the gap on Manchester City to just two points in the Premier League title race. The Gunners finished the campaign with a better defensive record than the reigning champions are arguably just a recognised goalscoring striker away from being able to topple Pep Guardiola’s juggernaut as 2024/25 roles into view.

Arsenal pre-season training kicked off on Monday morning the day after the Euros final, but Rice will now have a holiday of at least a couple of weeks. That will see him miss all of the club's summer tour of the United States, with games against Bournemouth, Manchester United and Liverpool this month. But he should feature in at least one of two home friendlies scheduled for August.

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