Roy Keane was left with egg on his face when Declan Rice ditched Ireland for England a few years ago. The Manchester United legend, 53, spent five years as assistant manager of Ireland’s national side, and was part of the coaching team that handed Rice his international debut.
The Arsenal superstar, 25, earned three caps for Ireland before switching allegiences in 2019 – a decision which caused a quite a stir in Irish circles. Rice, who was born and raised in London, had been overlooked by England at youth level, and qualified to play for Ireland through his grandparents.
He spent three years in the Ireland setup and made his senior debut in 2018, but because his three caps came in non-competitive fixtures, he was allowed to defect to England, who came calling after the midfielder starting shining in West Ham’s first XI. Prior to Rice’s switch, Keane responded to speculation about the player’s international future by insisting he had little reason to pick England over Ireland.
“He [Rice] is Irish. He plays for Ireland,” a typically-staunch Keane told reporters. “Where else would he want to go? If you had a choice, Ireland or England, it’s pretty straightforward isn’t it? Ireland.”
Less than a year later Rice opted to represent England, and judging by his punditry in the years since, Keane hasn’t forgiven him for it. Following the midfielder’s move to Arsenal last year, the former Ireland skipper said Rice wasn’t worth the £105million the Gunners paid for him.
“They’ve obviously paid way too much for him,” Keane said ahead the 2023 Community Shield. “He’s not worth over £100m.”
Similarly, Keane didn’t mince his words when talking about Rice prior to West Ham’s memorable triumph in the Europa Conference League. He claimed that the then-Hammers captain “hadn’t been great” throughout the season and insisted he didn’t think he was an elite midfielder.
“For all the talk about him, a lot of good PR coming out of West Ham… I think he needs to do a lot more,” Keane said. “He doesn’t score enough goals, he doesn’t get enough assists…. he needs to do more in every aspect.
“There’s talk he’s going to be leaving for big money and going to one of the bigger clubs who are going to be competing for trophies and competing in the Champions League, he needs to do a lot more, it’s as simple as that. Sometimes he’s just going through the motions. Playing it sideways, backwards, taking the easy option. He needs to do a lot more to match up with the other top midfielders in the country.”
He was also left unimpressed by Rice’s plea for England fans to ‘show some love’ during Euro 2024 following the team’s less than stellar start to the tournament. “Modern players are bit more delicate to criticism… I judge players by actions, the Irish football legend said.
“Declan Rice is talking about [fans] showing some love… you’ll get the love back when you perform. The reality is when you’re not performing you’ll get criticised.”
Rice’s defection came four years after Jack Grealish did the same, having representing Ireland at youth level for several years. Like Rice, Grealish was born and raised in England, but after being overlooked at youth level opted to play for Ireland, having qualified through his grandparents.
The spotlight will be on both Rice and Grealish this afternoon (September 7) if they take to the field for England in their Nations League match against Ireland at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. The fixture marks both players’ first competitive game on Irish turf since opting to defect.