‘We’ve Got No Excuses Not to Win’: Rice on England’s Chance at Euro Glory

MH sat down with England’s most highly-priced footballer of all time to discuss talent, transfer charges and his unusual pre-match diet strategy

In March this year, a young man from Kingston upon Thames determined himself in the home dressing room below the famous Wembley Arch, doing something solely a choose few professional footballers have had the honour of doing.

Declan Rice pulled on the captain’s armband, in the absence of prolific Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, to lead England – choosing up his fiftieth cap in the manner – against Belgium. And all simply months after celebrating his 25th birthday.

Like any precise midfielder, he has timed his run well. In the yr of the Euros, he’s following in the footsteps of greats such as Bryan Robson, Alan Shearer, David Beckham and Steven Gerrard. But the former proprietor of West Ham United, the late David Gold, made an even loftier evaluation to every other well-known England skipper when Declan was solely 19 years old. He said their prize asset reminded him of club legend and World Cup winner Bobby Moore. It’s the best reward you ought to bestow on any emerging talent at the London Stadium.

‘I’ll occasionally eat eight pancakes in a day. It gives me such a high electricity boost’

Like Moore, Declan has a composure that spreads to these round him. It goes some way to explaining the £100m fee tag that took him to Arsenal from West Ham last summer season – the joint highest upfront fee ever paid for a British player.

Few would argue with the valuation given his shape this season. He already has European silverware in his trophy cabinet after leading the Hammers to the Uefa Europa Conference League title last season. And this England facet – packed with brain such as Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Arsenal teammate Bukayo Saka – couldn’t be in a better role to venture for their first main trophy since, you guessed it, 1966.

When announcing Declan as captain, England supervisor Gareth Southgate said, ‘With Dec, you can experience stability and maturity. He’s bought the admire of everyone, the older gamers and the coaches.’

I labored in newspapers for 14 years and loved hearing sports activities journalists talking about the stars of the future breaking thru the childhood ranks. One of the quality I worked with was a persona known as Andy Dillon, who protected West Ham at the paper we both worked for. I understand Declan getting a point out as a long way back as 2016. A train at the east London club had advised Andy that when Declan was in the adolescence team, he’d noticed him one afternoon consuming lunch in the canteen. After finishing, he quietly cleared his plate away – something body of workers hadn’t come to anticipate from the adolescence academy. Pretty soon, however, all the aspiring stars had been doing it. When Declan Rice does something, others follow.

In Fine Form

The surrounding for our Men’s Health cover shoot couldn’t be in addition from the salubrious dressing rooms a Premier League footballer is used to. We’re in the Mildmay Working Men’s Club in Newington Green, London. The venue has the unmistakable whiff of an empty pub. But it immediately improves when Declan arrives – a superstar has entered the building and he’s changed the temperature, as properly as the smell.

Declan has made the experience from his home in south-west London to meet us only 36 hours after he’s performed 90 minutes and extra time in the Champions League against Porto. He’s additionally survived the ordeal of penalties, scoring his, and helping his side via to the quarter-finals.

Southgate was once right: he instantly commands respect. He makes his way around the room, introducing himself, inserting all and sundry at ease and happily answering questions about the massive result in the recreation that week.

It’s not long before he’s in his boxer shorts, choosing outfits for the cover. He’s 6ft 1in, however I’m struck by way of his ribcage, carrying lungs and a thumping coronary heart that have had fans marvelling at his work rate. It’s like standing next to a thoroughbred racing horse – he’s lean and sinewy, with a few tattoos etched into his faded skin. One tattoo reads ‘nothing else matters’; alongside it is the date of beginning of his son with long-term lady friend Lauren Fryer.

‘I’ve realized no longer to dwell on mistakes. Body language is so important, and humans can study it’

When we meet, he’s deep in a frenetic title race with Liverpool and Manchester City. Arsenal are nevertheless in contention in the latter stages of the Champions League, and pre-European Championship friendlies are stepping up with England. I ask how he fuels himself for a stacked fixture list. In response, he asks me what I think he eats on game day. I trot out the predictable Greek yoghurt, granola and superfoods answer. But I’m wider off the mark than a 1990 World Cup Chris Waddle penalty.

‘Pancakes,’ he laughs. ‘I have 4 pancakes earlier than a game. Covered in syrup or honey. I swear to god, it’s the first-rate factor – it has modified this season. You don’t trust me, do ya?’ he says, with a huge smile.

He used to eat fish and rice before games, he says, however it was once Arsenal’s nutritionist who counseled him to make the switch. ‘He will sit there with his iPad and say, “You need to stop eating this.” He instructed me to have confidence him and to start eating pancakes. They’re just normal pancakes. When I joined the club, I ought to see the gamers eating them and thought to myself, “What is going on here?” But honestly, it’s been a sport changer. I don’t recognize the science in the back of it, what’s in them or some thing like that, but it offers me such a excessive strength boost. I suppose that’s why I’m able to rattle around the pitch so much… It’s absolutely getting out of hand. If we’re taking part in at 5.30pm, I’ll sometimes have eight pancakes in a day. I’ll have some at breakfast and I’ll have some greater at 3.30pm before we play.’

Does he put together them himself ? He confesses that he’s blessed with chefs at work. He has assist at home, too. He’s the youngest of three sons, a last-ditch attempt from his mother and father to have a girl. Growing up, a bit of fraternal opposition helped him develop his skills. His eldest brother, Connor, is with him on the shoot. You can sense the household bond is sturdy as they go via the rail of garments together, laughing when Declan’s asked to dance on stage for a video clip.

He confesses he is partial to sweets and fizzy drinks, and jokes that his sweet teeth from time to time capability that when he starts, he can’t stop. I ask him the final time he felt like he disgraced himself with overindulgence. ‘Last night – I had a McDonald’s,’ he solutions with a smile. ‘I’ve acquired a couple of days off and the night time earlier than I’d performed one hundred twenty minutes. In fairness, our nutritionist constantly says, “Get anything you can into you after a game.”’

The drive-through used to be too busy, so he went inside, with a hat on, and managed to get out barring being recognised. During our shoot, his attendance hasn’t gone unnoticed. When we wrap for the day, a small navy of followers emerge with footballs to be signed. A younger magician even indicates up and entertains him whilst he’s ready for his car. He engages with absolutely everyone for nearly 1/2 an hour.

On social media, there’s a magical clip of Declan cuddling a tearful young West Ham fan and handing over his shirt – even though he had promised it to England teammate Marcus Rashford. Clearly, he is now not one for taking flight to the privateness of a inexperienced room.

He’s recreation for a bit of friendly contention on set, too. I assignment him to a three-dart challenge, best possible score wins – but you have to throw with your vulnerable hand. With country wide delight at stake (Scottish creator vs English superstar), Scotland take an early lead in the swiftly negotiated best-of-three face-off. He bounces straight back, taking the opposition to a decider. Another swift renegotiation and we determine the first man or woman to throw a bullseye with their sturdy hand wins. He does it in his first three darts.

Big Dec Energy

On my way to the shoot, I let it slip to the cab driver (who presented up his allegiance to Arsenal without being asked) that I was on my way to interview Dec. He spent the subsequent 15 minutes supplying constructive criticism on my BBC Radio 5 Live colleagues’ coverage of his team, peppered with questions I ought to ask about the membership and its manager, Mikel Arteta. He insists I should push for solutions about Dec’s superhuman capacity to win the ball lower back from opponents with his seemingly telescopic legs. It’s a first rate question and Declan beams with pride when I put it to him.

‘When I signed for Arsenal and we did all the medical tests, mobility was one of my biggest strengths,’ Declan says. ‘It’s loopy – I’m really, really flexible. Most humans in the recreation don’t have the same range. I don’t know why I’m built like that, but when I’m tackling, it permits my legs to go into positions that look a bit weird. It feels natural to me.’

Superhuman flexibility aside, by means of his own admission, his formative years threw up a few bodily challenges. He may have a natural swagger now, however it hasn’t always been there, with a collection of painful setbacks in the brutal early life system of professional football. There was once a spell as a teen when Chelsea let him go from their academy and then West Ham were on the cusp of losing him, too, over issues about his coordination as his physique used to be developing.

‘You can do all the gym work in the world, lift all the weights, do all the legwork, but you have to be mentally surely strong’

‘I suppose I used to be always technically sound with a ball, but athletically, I was once supposed for a boom spurt between 14 and 17,’ he says. ‘That’s where I did most of my growing. You experience certainly out of your body. It’s hard to provide an explanation for it, however you don’t appear natural. I used to be playing football to a truly suitable level, but simply the different facet of it, my physicality, it just didn’t add up. Even at West Ham, they have been questioning that facet of things. But thankfully, they gave me the time to develop into my physique and now I experience honestly strong, absolutely athletic.’

His match-day records are regularly the subject of post-match punditry for club and country. He covers every blade of grass with an elegant, lengthy stride pattern. He is equally wonderful out of possession as he is with the ball.

‘We’ve got pinnacle conditioning staff at Arsenal who have been incredible,’ he says. ‘There’s a guy, Sam, who is so on top of it. I love speakme about him because he’s splendid with the lads.’ Declan knows what works for him. ‘I have trustworthy communicate with the conditioning staff. If there’s something I don’t like, we can come to a compromise.’ Still, fit health starts offevolved from the pinnacle down. ‘You can do all the gymnasium work in the world, carry all the weights, do all the legwork, but you have to be mentally without a doubt strong. Confidence is so important. To be constantly seven or eight out of 10 each week is the massive aspect for me. Mentality is so important.

‘The manager [Arteta] has talked to us about how our brains work. It’s effortless to go into your shell if you make a horrific pass, or if you provide the ball away and the opposition score. But I’ve learned no longer to dwell on mistakes. I was mentored through Matty Upson at West Ham, and when I was once in the U-21s, he ought to see my head would go down if I made an error. He informed me physique language is so important, and people can read it. So you have to puff your chest out on occasion and forget about about things when they go wrong.’

Life in the Fast Lane

Declan Rice is wholly aware of the brevity of a profession in expert football. In fact, he describes the fee at which time is passing as ‘frightening’. He recollects senior pros telling him it’ll all be over quicker than he thinks and how he laughed them off with a lengthy 15 years ahead of him. Now that’s only 10 – if he stays injury-free.

‘From my debut to now, the time passing is ridiculous,’ he says. ‘My first aim for West Ham vs Arsenal, and how much things have changed considering the fact that then… My lifestyles is so quick it’s hard to take it in.’

A lot has been made of the £100m fee tag, however he appears unphased through it at all. He gave away a penalty at the Emirates in opposition to West Ham, which the terraces of his former club lapped up, dishing out dog’s abuse. But even when he scored a surprise aim in a 6-0 thrashing of his former club in February, he refused to celebrate.

‘I bought sold for a big amount of money,’ he acknowledges. ‘I knew I was once a exact player. I had the full self assurance that I could make an impact. People have stopped speaking about the price. Of course, it was once a lot of money. It’s up to the followers to say if I justify it.’

Declan Rice is one of the first names on Gareth Southgate’s teamsheet and is firmly establishing himself alongside Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham in one of the nice central midfield partnerships on the planet. Understandably, it’s sending self belief coursing via his veins.

‘With the team we’ve got, the players we have and all people in structure enjoying well, you want to returned yourself to win. I experience like it is our chance; it’s time. What excuses can you give? We have a brilliant manager, top notch personnel behind the scenes and they are a good team to go away with. We can do some thing definitely different this summer.’

As a proud Scotsman, it’s painful to admit it, however he’s honestly right. And it would be tough to begrudge such a decent, inspirational and talented younger man that glory.

EDITOR-AT-LARGE

Our new Editor-at-Large, Gordon Smart, is an award-winning broadcaster and journalist. He hosts Weeknights and Sunday evenings on BBC Radio 5 Live and his podcast Restless Natives, with actor Martin Compston, has had 1.4million listens.

Gordon made his title in journalism as the youngest Showbiz Editor of The Sun and the youngest Editor of The Scottish Sun. On TV, he has anchored Good Morning Britain and is a regular presenter and host on BBC Morning Live.