Arsenal star Declan Rice blasted for posting 'impossible' stat in England's painful Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain

England once again lost in a Euros final as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to Spain in the showpiece event on Sunday. Midfielder Rice has previously been criticised by Liverpool legend Graeme Souness for not scoring enough goals, labelling him as "predictable". Now, the Scot claims the 25-year-old completed just one forward pass against the Spanish.

He said on Three Up Front: "England were at their best when they went a goal behind. All of a sudden they started taking risks. They had to be braver and risk making a mistake, risk passing it forward, or trying to play someone in. Instead, they were just going sideways or backwards and it was driving me mad in the final, as it had done the whole tournament. I did some research and found that Declan Rice only completed one forward pass against Spain. One completed forward pass in 90 minutes for a midfield player… that’s impossible!"

In the aftermath of England's Euros final defeat, which came three years after they lost to Italy on penalties in the same competition, manager Gareth Southgate has resigned and the search for his successor is underway. Now, the next task is to turn a runners-up medal to an international trophy, starting at the 2026 World Cup.

After his Euros exploits in Germany, Rice will head off on his holidays before returning for Arsenal's pre-season campaign in the coming weeks. It remains to be seen who will replace Southgate in England's dugout, although ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been ruled out of the running.