‘They were saying’: Leeds fans will love what Rice told Phillips before England win

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Both West Ham and Leeds United duo, Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips, are proving a lot of people wrong at Euro 2020.

West Ham’s defensive rock told England’s Diary Room that he told Leeds’, Phillips, before the Germany game, to ‘let’s just go out there and have it’ after they were being written off.

Before the game, many expected both to start, but a lot was being made about the experience and the know-how of this German side, especially Toni Kroos in midfield.

But the Leeds and West Ham duo, not only shut him up, but they also kept Leon Goretzka fairly quiet during the game.

And Rice shared talk of him and Phillips being written off before the game spurred him and his fellow midfield partner on as they knocked Germany out of Euro 2020.

“You read stuff where people write you off and say stuff that you are not good enough,” said Rice. “You are coming up against people like Kroos and Goretzka.

“They are saying me and Kalv won’t be able to compete against them and you kind of just put that to the back of your mind. But always remember it.

“So, when you go out there and win a game, you know you can just kind of shut people up with your noise. That’s what we did.

“I said to Kalv before the game, we both said to each other, ‘let’s just go out there and have it’. That’s what we did.”

Aside from the goalless draw against Scotland, both Phillips and Rice have been outstanding in the middle of the park.

That performance against the German’s was perhaps the best of their individual careers, but it’s not over yet.

The next step is Rome when they lock horns with Ukraine, and whilst some were writing them off before the Germany game, that won’t be the case at the weekend.

It could even be argued that Gareth Southgate should drop at least one of them for that Ukraine match because both are one booking away from missing the semi-finals.