Declan Rice says James McClean’s criticism may have come from “bitterness towards me not playing for Ireland”, although he was keen to praise what he had thought was a good relationship with the retired winger. McClean created headlines as a pundit on Irish national station RTE, by describing his former international teammate as “overrated” and “not world class”, with follow-up comments on the passive nature of his game. Rice won three caps for Ireland in 2018, where he was a teammate to McClean, before switching to England.
The Arsenal midfielder was mostly conciliatory when the comments were put to him, albeit with one bite. Rice similarly referenced McClean’s comments from 2019, when he said those not “proud” to play for Ireland should “sod off and play for someone else”.
