Simon Jordan has mischaracterised Declan Rice’s withdrawal from England duty, according to football.london. Jordan suggested on TalkSPORT that Rice had played only 55 games last season and lacked resilience, but the figure omits Rice’s 14 appearances for England during 2025/26.
Rice pulled out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for load management reasons, not a specific injury, football.london understands. The midfielder played over 4,500 minutes for Arsenal as they won the league and reached two cup finals, plus more than 1,000 additional minutes for England across World Cup qualifiers, friendlies and the tournament itself.
Rice has also been managing a neural hamstring issue. Harry Kane backed his teammates’ decisions, telling reporters: “Everyone has to look after themselves and put themselves first.” Cole Palmer, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tino Livramento also withdrew after initial selection.
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