Jose Mourinho told talkSPORT on Monday that West Ham United’s Declan Rice was ‘fantastic’ for England at the final of Euro 2020 on Sunday.
The former Tottenham boss also noticed how Harry Kane was putting pressure on the wrong Italian players at Wembley and he suggested his surprise at Rice’s substitution in the second half.
It was a heartbreaking end for the England players, as the likes of Rice and Kalvin Phillips in the middle of the park took their game to another level during this tournament.
Nonetheless, this is what Mourinho had to say about Rice, Phillips and Kane to talkSPORT on Monday.
“Harry Kane was never in a position of pressing centre-backs,” said Mourinho. “He was the one who was really trying to close the position of Verratti and Jorginho starting to build.
“The players that normally should be doing pressure in here, Phillips and Rice, they ended up playing too close to the centre-backs. England sat in a very low block.
“You could feel it in the second half and in extra time that there was no more energy there. The substitution of Rice, for me, that I don’t know because he was fantastic.”
There’s no doubt that Rice’s reputation has gone through the roof during this tournament.
If some were questioning the West Ham man before the start of Euro 2020, well, they will be eating some good old humble pie now because he was one of England’s standout performers.
And when mentioning Rice, it’s also worth giving a shout out to Kalvin Phillips, who was another player questioned before the start of the tournament and another one who has proved many people wrong.
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