Why irreplaceable Declan Rice has England's most important role at Euro 2024

Life does come at you fast," said Declan Rice ahead of England's final Euro 2024 warm-up friendly against Iceland last week.

Rice was contemplating the rapid progression of his career — from West Ham captain and European trophy-winner to now the Premier League's most complete box-to-box midfielder with Arsenal — and nowhere is his ever-increasing influence more apparent than in the national team.

Rice has been an important cog for Gareth Southgate since his debut in 2019, but it was not so long ago that he still felt like a junior partner in a side led by Jordan Pickford, Harry Maguire, Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane.

This summer, though, Rice will be one of the new leaders of an exciting but inexperienced England squad and, with Henderson and Kalvin Phillips axed, he is now the team's elder statesman in midfield.

Declan Rice on his defensive role

"I saw that I was the oldest [midfielder]," Rice, who captained England for the first time on his 50th cap in March, said last week. "I didn't really know how to take it, to be honest."

Like every challenge in his career, Rice can be expected to take his new seniority in his stride, but it is hard to overstate just how important the 25-year-old feels to England's summer.

Six days out from their opening group game against Serbia on Sunday, the identity of Rice's midfield partner remains up in the air.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is understood to be in pole position — Rice has said of his team-mate, "He's special... he's a player we have to play" — with Conor Gallagher, 24, Kobbie Mainoo, 19, and Adam Wharton, 20, the other contenders.

Alexander-Arnold is actually a few months older than Rice, but still inexperienced in midfield, particularly in an England shirt, leaving the latter with the challenge of not only doing his own job but helping a less-seasoned team-mate through the tournament.

"I feel like now I've gained so much experience over the last two years that I can kind of guide the younger players in a way," Rice said.

The role promises to be a test for Rice, not least because England's struggles to get over the line under Southgate have so often felt like a consequence of a lack of control and progressive passers in the midfield.

For Rice and his midfield partner, both keeping hold of the ball and getting it to England's talented array of forwards will be key to the team's prospects in Germany.

Southgate is also relying on the destructive side of Rice's game, which has also increased in importance with the loss of Maguire to injury.

At Arsenal, Rice has licence to get forward, but Southgate wants him to prioritise screening the defence, which will now include an inexperienced centre-half — likely Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi — next to John Stones.

"I feel like I can say that to a Kobbie, Mainoo or an Adam Wharton, or Jude [Bellingham] or Cole Palmer, 'I'm going to sit for you and you go and do your thing', because that gives them a sense of confidence that they don't have to worry," Rice said. "They can go and do their stuff and I'm happy to do their defensive work."

Alexander-Arnold is a gifted ball player but has struggled with the defensive side of the game, discouraging Southgate from playing him at right-back, and Rice will have to be at his imposing best out of possession if he plays next to the Liverpool man.

The upshot is that no one except probably captain Kane feels as crucial to England's chances of being European champions as Rice, who is irreplaceable in the squad.

Southgate has considered the nuclear scenario of "who [to play], if not Declan?", but England's prospects would be enormously damaged if Rice gets injured or is off the pace in Germany.

Equally, as Arsenal have discovered, Rice at the top of his game can be transformative, and would go a long way to mitigating the concerns about England's lack of experience behind and next to him.