Netherlands hero labels England star ‘useless’ after Euro 2024 loss to Spain
Netherlands legend Rafael van der Vaart has branded England midfielder Declan Rice as “useless” and questioned what he does after the Three Lions’ loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Despite several disjointed displays at Euro 2024, Gareth Southgate led England to a third major men’s final appearance and first on foreign soil but they lost 2-1 to Spain in Berlin on Sunday night.
While the showpiece was a tense affair and not settled until Mikel Oyarzabal struck in the 86th minute, Spain had 65 per cent possession as England tried to counter-attack their way out of trouble.
After another shot at joining the 1966 World Cup heroes in immortality went up in smoke, former Netherlands midfielder Van der Vaart had a pop at England midfielder Rice.
Van der Vaart insists Rice is “useless” and has not lived up to his £100m price tag which saw him move from West Ham to Arsenal in the summer of 2023.
Speaking on Dutch TV channel NOS, Van der Vaart said: “£100M for Declan Rice… what does he do?
“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.”
MORE ENGLAND REACTION FROM F365
👉 One ‘terrified’ and ‘comical’ England player sums up the Southgate era
👉 England player ratings: Kane anonymous and still trophyless, Rice exposed, Pickford brilliant
👉 Who will be the next England manager after Gareth Southgate?
Reacting to England’s defeat to Spain, Southgate said: “Tonight we fell short, we didn’t keep the ball well enough. We actually defended well in the first half in particular, limited their possibilities, but we couldn’t play through the counter press well enough,’ he said.
“We actually didn’t really use the ball well until we were a goal down, then we had a decent period in the game.
“We got the equaliser but I think the physical toll of the issues we came into the tournament with, the extra-time periods and then tonight, having as little of the ball as we did, ultimately that took a big toll.”
Southgate on his future: ‘I’m obviously not going to discuss that publicly first’
Pushed in the press conference about his future and whether going so close gives him extra fire to go on as England boss, Southgate added: “Look, I totally understand the question and understand that you need to ask it.
“But I need to have those conversations with important people behind the scenes. I’m obviously not going to discuss that publicly first.
“Without a doubt, England have got some fabulous young players and even the young ones now have got a lot of experience of tournaments.
“Many of this squad are going to be around in two, four, six, eight years’ time. We have now been consistently back in the matches that matter but it’s the last step that we haven’t been able to do.
“It’s hard to reflect so soon after a defeat like this. Of course, to take England to two finals has never been done but yeah, we came here to win and we haven’t been able to do that.”
