Rice started in a new-look midfield three with Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold as the Three Lions got their campaign off to a winning start with a cagey 1-0 victory over group-stage rivals Serbia.
Bellingham’s thunderous 13th-minute header proved decisive, with Southgate’s men disjointed and found wanting for large periods at Gelsenkirchen’s Arena AufSchalke.
While Harry Kane and Co will be pleased to get three points on the board, with the result putting them top of Group C, a number of Southgate’s selection calls continue to divide supporters, perhaps most notably in the middle of the park.
Having omitted Kalvin Phillips and Jordan Henderson from his 26-man squad, Southgate appears to be lacking serious experience at the base of his midfield, meaning Rice has been forced to play a different role to the one he has grown used to at club level.
Former Manchester United and England right-back Neville feels are ‘not getting the most out of’ of the Arsenal star and Southgate may have to rejig his midfield combination looking ahead to Denmark and the latter stages of the tournament.
‘The reality of it is you need balance and every team that I played in that won, they had great balance in the team and players that were subservient and did a job for the team,’ the former United and England right-back told Sky Sports in the wake of England’s nervy win.
‘You see players at top clubs that allow the best players and most talented players to shine because they play those roles in the team that means that the collective is more important than the individual.
‘What we have at the moment with England, we have a real shortage of experienced central midfield players that can play in that position.
‘I actually think the problem is not just Trent Alexander-Arnold. I don’t think we’re getting the most out of Declan Rice in that holding role. That’s why Kalvin Phillips played with him and it worked.’
According to Neville, it would have been ‘stupid’ for a manager to waste Roy Keane’s lung-busting runs forward by forcing him to play in a holding role when he was at the peak of his powers at Manchester United.
‘I was sat watching the game with Roy Keane. I think Roy Keane could play holding midfield but you would be stupid if you stopped Roy Keane running forward with his power and his strength and his ability to influence the game in the final third,’ he continued.
‘What we’re doing at the moment is we have a player with that type of power in Declan Rice and we’re asking him to sit there in midfield and sweep up.
‘He’s not a Rodri, he’s not a [Sergio] Busquets. That is not Declan Rice and Mikel Arteta has worked that out this season.
‘We just need to look at it collectively and work out how we get around it. [Jordan] Henderson and Phillips have filled those roles for years.
‘They’re not fashionable players, not necessarily the first players that fans want to see on the pitch. They want to see [Cole] Palmer and Bellingham and [Phil] Foden.
‘But to win a tournament… Real Madrid had [Toni] Kroos, [Federico] Valverde and [Eduardo] Camavinga behind Bellingham in a Champions League final. Manchester City often play with [Mateo] Kovacic and Rodri and quite often, towards the end of the season, Arsenal played with Jorginho and Declan Rice.
‘This idea that England are any different and they can just go out there with this cavalier approach and play all these talented players, I’ve never bought into.’
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