Rice is Exhibit A on certain very good English players being ridiculously overhyped into “world class” by the British press. Rice is like Mount — he’s a “proper English lad” you want to have a pint with; he’s a wish fulfillment for the fans. Then when he plays for England against truly world class competition he completely disappears. And if you point that out the response is “if you don’t understand that Rice is just as good as Rodri you just don’t know football.” He’s a very good player, yes, but his only world class attribute is being relatably and reliably English.

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“Calm yourself, mate. We’ve got a long way to go.” - everyone.

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