'We’ve Got No Excuses Not to Win': Declan Rice on England’s Shot at Euros Glory
In March this year, a young man from Kingston upon Thames found himself in the home dressing room under the famous Wembley Arch, doing something only a select few professional footballers have had the honour of doing.
Declan Rice pulled on the captain’s armband, in the absence of prolific Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, to lead England – picking up his 50th cap in the process – against Belgium. And all just months after celebrating his 25th birthday.
Like any good midfielder, he has timed his run well. In the year of the Euros, he’s following in the footsteps of greats such as Bryan Robson, Alan Shearer, David Beckham and Steven Gerrard. But the former owner of West Ham United, the late David Gold, made an even loftier comparison to another famous England skipper when Declan was only 19 years old. He said their prize asset reminded him of club legend and World Cup winner Bobby Moore. It’s the highest praise you could bestow on any emerging talent at the London Stadium.
'I'll sometimes eat eight pancakes in a day. It gives me such a high energy boost'
Like Moore, Declan has a composure that spreads to those around him. It goes some way to explaining the £100m price tag that took him to Arsenal from West Ham last summer – the joint highest upfront fee ever paid for a British player.
Few would argue with the valuation given his form this season. He already has European silverware in his trophy cabinet after leading the Hammers to the Uefa Europa Conference League title last season. And this England side – packed with talent such as Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Arsenal teammate Bukayo Saka – couldn’t be in a better position to challenge for their first major trophy since, you guessed it, 1966.
When announcing Declan as captain, England manager Gareth Southgate said, ‘With Dec, you can sense stability and maturity. He’s got the respect of everyone, the older players and the coaches.’
I worked in newspapers for 14 years and loved hearing sports reporters talking about the stars of the future breaking through the youth ranks. One of the best I worked with was a character called Andy Dillon, who covered West Ham at the paper we both worked for. I remember Declan getting a mention as far back as 2016. A coach at the east London club had told Andy that when Declan was in the youth team, he’d spotted him one afternoon eating lunch in the canteen. After finishing, he quietly cleared his plate away – something staff hadn’t come to expect from the youth academy. Pretty soon, however, all the aspiring stars were doing it. When Declan Rice does something, others follow.
In Fine Form
The surrounding for our Men’s Health cover shoot couldn’t be further from the salubrious dressing rooms a Premier League footballer is used to. We’re in the Mildmay Working Men’s Club in Newington Green, London. The venue has the unmistakable whiff of an empty pub. But it instantly improves when Declan arrives – a superstar has entered the building and he’s changed the temperature, as well as the smell.
Declan has made the journey from his home in south-west London to meet us only 36 hours after he’s played 90 minutes and extra time in the Champions League against Porto. He’s also survived the ordeal of penalties, scoring his, and helping his side through to the quarter-finals.
Southgate was right: he instantly commands respect. He makes his way around the room, introducing himself, putting everyone at ease and happily answering questions about the big result in the game that week.
It’s not long before he’s in his boxer shorts, selecting outfits for the cover. He’s 6ft 1in, but I’m struck by his ribcage, carrying lungs and a thumping heart that have had fans marvelling at his work rate. It’s like standing next to a thoroughbred racing horse – he’s lean and sinewy, with a few tattoos etched into his pale skin. One tattoo reads ‘nothing else matters’; alongside it is the date of birth of his son with long-term girlfriend Lauren Fryer.
'I've learned not to dwell on mistakes. Body language is so important, and people can read it'
When we meet, he’s deep in a frenetic title race with Liverpool and Manchester City. Arsenal are still in contention in the latter stages of the Champions League, and pre-European Championship friendlies are stepping up with England. I ask how he fuels himself for a stacked fixture list. In response, he asks me what I think he eats on game day. I trot out the predictable Greek yoghurt, granola and superfoods answer. But I’m wider off the mark than a 1990 World Cup Chris Waddle penalty.
‘Pancakes,’ he laughs. ‘I have four pancakes before a game. Covered in syrup or honey. I swear to god, it’s the best thing – it has changed this season. You don’t believe me, do ya?’ he says, with a wide smile.
He used to eat fish and rice before games, he says, but it was Arsenal’s nutritionist who advised him to make the switch. ‘He will sit there with his iPad and say, “You need to stop eating this.” He told me to trust him and to start eating pancakes. They’re just normal pancakes. When I joined the club, I could see the players eating them and thought to myself, “What is going on here?” But honestly, it’s been a game changer. I don’t understand the science behind it, what’s in them or anything like that, but it gives me such a high energy boost. I think that’s why I’m able to rattle around the pitch so much... It’s actually getting out of hand. If we’re playing at 5.30pm, I’ll sometimes have eight pancakes in a day. I’ll have some at breakfast and I’ll have some more at 3.30pm before we play.’
Does he prepare them himself ? He confesses that he’s blessed with chefs at work. He has help at home, too. He’s the youngest of three sons, a last-ditch attempt from his parents to have a girl. Growing up, a bit of fraternal competition helped him develop his skills. His eldest brother, Connor, is with him on the shoot. You can sense the family bond is strong as they go through the rail of clothes together, laughing when Declan’s asked to dance on stage for a video clip.
He confesses he is partial to sweets and fizzy drinks, and jokes that his sweet tooth sometimes means that when he starts, he can’t stop. I ask him the last time he felt like he disgraced himself with overindulgence. ‘Last night – I had a McDonald’s,’ he answers with a smile. ‘I’ve got a couple of days off and the night before I’d played 120 minutes. In fairness, our nutritionist always says, “Get whatever you can into you after a game.”’
The drive-through was too busy, so he went inside, with a hat on, and managed to get out without being recognised. During our shoot, his attendance hasn’t gone unnoticed. When we wrap for the day, a small army of fans emerge with footballs to be signed. A young magician even shows up and entertains him while he’s waiting for his car. He engages with everyone for nearly half an hour.
On social media, there’s a magical clip of Declan cuddling a tearful young West Ham fan and handing over his shirt – even though he had promised it to England teammate Marcus Rashford. Clearly, he is not one for retreating to the privacy of a green room.
He’s game for a bit of friendly rivalry on set, too. I challenge him to a three-dart challenge, highest score wins – but you have to throw with your weak hand. With national pride at stake (Scottish writer vs English superstar), Scotland take an early lead in the swiftly negotiated best-of-three face-off. He bounces straight back, taking the competition to a decider. Another swift renegotiation and we decide the first person to throw a bullseye with their strong hand wins. He does it in his first three darts.
Big Dec Energy
On my way to the shoot, I let it slip to the cab driver (who offered up his allegiance to Arsenal without being asked) that I was on my way to interview Dec. He spent the next 15 minutes offering constructive criticism on my BBC Radio 5 Live colleagues’ coverage of his team, peppered with questions I should ask about the club and its manager, Mikel Arteta. He insists I should push for answers about Dec’s superhuman ability to win the ball back from opponents with his seemingly telescopic legs. It’s a decent question and Declan beams with pride when I put it to him.
‘When I signed for Arsenal and we did all the medical tests, mobility was one of my biggest strengths,’ Declan says. ‘It’s crazy – I’m really, really flexible. Most people in the sport don’t have the same range. I don’t know why I’m built like that, but when I’m tackling, it allows my legs to go into positions that look a bit weird. It feels natural to me.’
Superhuman flexibility aside, by his own admission, his formative years threw up a few physical challenges. He might have a natural swagger now, but it hasn’t always been there, with a series of painful setbacks in the brutal youth system of professional football. There was a spell as a teenager when Chelsea let him go from their academy and then West Ham were on the cusp of dropping him, too, over concerns about his coordination as his physique was developing.
‘You can do all the gym work in the world, lift all the weights, do all the legwork, but you have to be mentally really strong'
‘I think I was always technically sound with a ball, but athletically, I was meant for a growth spurt between 14 and 17,’ he says. ‘That’s where I did most of my growing. You feel really out of your body. It’s hard to explain it, but you don’t look natural. I was playing football to a really good level, but just the other side of it, my physicality, it just didn’t add up. Even at West Ham, they were questioning that side of things. But thankfully, they gave me the time to grow into my body and now I feel really strong, really athletic.’
His match-day statistics are often the subject of post-match punditry for club and country. He covers every blade of grass with an elegant, long stride pattern. He is equally effective out of possession as he is with the ball.
‘We’ve got top conditioning staff at Arsenal who have been incredible,’ he says. ‘There’s a guy, Sam, who is so on top of it. I love speaking about him because he’s great with the lads.’ Declan knows what works for him. ‘I have honest dialogue with the conditioning staff. If there’s something I don’t like, we can come to a compromise.’ Still, match fitness starts from the top down. ‘You can do all the gym work in the world, lift all the weights, do all the legwork, but you have to be mentally really strong. Confidence is so important. To be consistently seven or eight out of 10 every week is the big thing for me. Mentality is so important.
‘The manager [Arteta] has talked to us about how our brains work. It’s easy to go into your shell if you make a bad pass, or if you give the ball away and the opposition score. But I’ve learned not to dwell on mistakes. I was mentored by Matty Upson at West Ham, and when I was in the U-21s, he could see my head would go down if I made an error. He told me body language is so important, and people can read it. So you have to puff your chest out sometimes and forget about things when they go wrong.’
Life in the Fast Lane
Declan Rice is fully aware of the brevity of a career in professional football. In fact, he describes the rate at which time is passing as ‘frightening’. He recalls senior pros telling him it’ll all be over sooner than he thinks and how he laughed them off with a long 15 years ahead of him. Now that’s only 10 – if he remains injury-free.
‘From my debut to now, the time passing is ridiculous,’ he says. ‘My first goal for West Ham vs Arsenal, and how much things have changed since then... My life is so fast it’s hard to take it in.’
A lot has been made of the £100m price tag, but he seems unphased by it at all. He gave away a penalty at the Emirates against West Ham, which the terraces of his former club lapped up, dishing out dog’s abuse. But even when he scored a wonder goal in a 6-0 thrashing of his former club in February, he refused to celebrate.
‘I got bought for a big amount of money,’ he acknowledges. ‘I knew I was a good player. I had the full confidence that I could make an impact. People have stopped talking about the price. Of course, it was a lot of money. It’s up to the fans to say if I justify it.’
Declan Rice is one of the first names on Gareth Southgate’s teamsheet and is firmly establishing himself alongside Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham in one of the best central midfield partnerships on the planet. Understandably, it’s sending confidence coursing through his veins.
‘With the team we’ve got, the players we have and everyone in form playing well, you need to back yourself to win. I feel like it is our chance; it’s time. What excuses can you give? We have a great manager, great staff behind the scenes and they are a good group to go away with. We can do something really special this summer.’
As a proud Scotsman, it’s painful to admit it, but he’s absolutely right. And it would be hard to begrudge such a decent, inspirational and talented young man that glory.
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