England captain Harry Kane spared his compatriot Declan Rice from any criticism for his recent international withdrawal, citing injury “struggles” which have plagued the Arsenal midfielder “for a while.”
Rice was one of five England players to pull out of this fall’s elongated international break, missing a quartet of Nations League fixtures, beginning with Saturday’s visit from the defending world and European champion Spain.
Kane has previously admonished players who have ducked out of international games between major tournaments, famously insisting: “I think England comes before anything. England comes before club.”
However, there was no question from Kane about Rice’s lack of commitment. Instead, his defense of the Arsenal star flagged concerns about his fitness going forward.
“I spoke to Dec,” Kane revealed to assembled media this week. “He sent me a voice note. I know Dec goes far and beyond for the club and country, so I know how much he gives and I know he’s been struggling for a while with his issues.”
What Injury ‘Issues’ Is Declan Rice Struggling With?
“The good thing with Declan is he’s so consistent, so reliable,” Mikel Arteta once gushed. “He’s always there.” Rice is almost too reliable for his own good.
During the World Cup, the omnipresent midfielder revealed that he had been nursing neural pain in his hamstring since Christmas. Thomas Tuchel was constantly on the cusp of sparing Rice the agony of trudging through another grueling 90 minutes but couldn’t bring himself to rob the team of its engine (especially if it meant giving the oddly shunned Kobbie Mainoo any minutes).
Rice dutifully pushed through the pain barrier—even for the meaningless third-place playoff—and was so keen to return to Arsenal training early he spent a portion of his off-season texting Arteta about when he could come back.
Arsenal’s manager resisted the urge to start his star man in the Community Shield, but has named Rice in all six of the lineups for the club’s Premier League and Champions League fixtures thus far. In the final fixture before the international break, Rice played the full 90 minutes, lashing out at Malick Yalcouyé in stoppage time at the end of humbling defeat.
Will Declan Rice Be Fit for Arsenal?
Rather than any major relapse, it would appear that Rice’s absence is a question of fatigue at the start of what promises to be another campaign stuffed with fixtures.
“Someone like Dec has to get himself sorted and get himself fresh,” Kane explained, “he has big games for club, big games for country, coming up.”
The length of this club hiatus may not be to everyone’s taste, but it could work out for Arsenal. The Gunners are not in action again until a visit from Leeds United on Saturday, Oct. 10, giving Rice the best part of three weeks to fully recover before a new grind can commence.
Arteta’s champions have nine fixtures stuffed into the four weeks before the November international break, with every midweek filled by either Champions League or Carabao Cup fixtures. There is an early test of a visit to Kane’s Bayern Munich (Oct. 21) to consider as well as a trip to Liverpool’s Anfield on Nov. 1. It would take some rather more serious “issues” than Rice’s current ailments to keep him out of action for those lofty fixtures.
