The word was 'ridiculous' — and nobody argued
It takes a lot for two ex-pros to land on the same adjective. After England’s 5-0 dismantling of Serbia, Gary Lineker and Micah Richards both settled on one: “ridiculous.” They weren’t being harsh. They were tipping their hats to Declan Rice, whose performance in midfield glued together everything England did well and set the tone for an evening that never looked in doubt.
This wasn’t a flashy outing built on stepovers or headline-grabbing moments. It was control. Rice decided where the game was played and how fast it moved. When England wanted to squeeze Serbia, he stepped up and pinned them in. When the team needed to breathe, he recycled possession without fuss and reset the attack. That quiet authority is what turned a good England display into a dominant one.
From the first whistle he was the reference point: always showing for the ball, shaping his body to receive under pressure, and moving it to the right areas so England could attack down the flanks. When Serbia tried to switch play or hit early passes into their forwards, he was there to intercept or slow things down, allowing England’s back line to stay aggressive instead of backpedaling.
It sounds simple because he makes it look simple. The hard part is scanning constantly, reading danger two passes ahead, and never getting caught square. Rice did that on repeat, which freed the creators around him to push on. England’s wingers hugged the touchline, the attacking midfielders took up pockets between the lines, and the full-backs overlapped with confidence—because they knew the space behind them was covered.
Lineker and Richards, who’ve seen enough big nights to spot a real one, zeroed in on Rice’s maturity. That’s not a buzzword here. You could see it in how he spoke to teammates, in when he chose to foul and when he chose to shepherd the ball out, and in the way he kept the tempo from getting frantic even when England smelled blood.
- Out of possession: he screened the center-backs, nudged opponents into cul-de-sacs, and cut off the angles that Serbia needed to escape.
- In possession: he connected defense to attack with crisp, vertical passes and well-timed switches that moved Serbia’s block from side to side.
- Transitions: he won the first duel after a turnover, then found the early forward ball that put Serbia on the back foot.
- Leadership: constant instructions, calm gestures, and a clear sense of what the next phase needed to look like.
There’s a reason Arsenal spent heavily to get him from West Ham. Under Mikel Arteta, Rice has broadened his game—still a destroyer when needed, but now with the confidence to carry the ball through pressure and the vision to break lines. That evolution showed here. He didn’t just stop Serbia; he started England.
For England’s setup, he’s the keystone. Slot a ball-winner behind an attacking cast full of runners and playmakers and you’ve got balance. Without that anchor, teams can get stretched and jittery. With Rice, England looked compact, aggressive, and sure of themselves. That’s what turns possession into pressure and pressure into goals.
It also changes how opponents approach the game. Serbia couldn’t target the space in front of England’s defense because Rice owned it. They couldn’t leave England’s midfielders unmarked because he fizzed passes into feet at the right moments. And when they tried to go long, he cleaned up the second balls. By the time the scoreline drifted into comfortable territory, the pattern was set and never really broke.
What made the “ridiculous” label land was the mix of poise and presence. Rice did the grimy stuff—tackles, blocks, shepherding runs—without drama. But he also added punch: quick diagonals to flip the play, little one-twos to skip past the first press, and the occasional surge that forced Serbia to retreat. He tended the fire and threw on logs.
There’s a knock-on effect for the squad, too. When the six is trustworthy, the attacking eights can gamble a bit more. The center-backs can hold a higher line. The full-backs can overlap without second-guessing. You saw that synergy all over the pitch as England racked up chances and boxed Serbia in for long stretches.
Why this matters beyond one big win
For Gareth Southgate, the long-term question has always been about control in big matches. You know England can score. Can they dominate the middle third against top opponents? Performances like this push that answer toward yes. Rice gives you a floor—England rarely look chaotic when he’s there—and a ceiling, because he accelerates the attack at the right moments.
At club level, his Arsenal experience is rubbing off. He plays every phase: drops between center-backs to start moves, steps into midfield to compress space, and chases the second ball around the box to keep attacks alive. That’s become second nature, and England benefit from muscle memory formed week after week in the Premier League and Europe.
The plaudits from Lineker and Richards aren’t just noise. When seasoned pros call a performance “ridiculous,” they’re pointing to the kind of control that doesn’t always show up in highlight reels. It’s the speed of decisions, the angles taken to cut out a pass, the half-second earlier release that turns a safe ball into a line-breaker. Those are the habits that decide knockout football.
There will be tougher nights than this. England won’t always cruise by five, and they’ll face midfields with more bite and guile. But a statement display against Serbia gives Southgate a template: keep Rice central, let the attackers rotate ahead of him, and trust his feel for when to slow and when to surge.
It’s rare to see universal agreement in the studio after a big scoreline. This time, the consensus said a lot. England’s forwards will grab the clips and the headlines. The spine of the performance, though, was the guy in the middle dictating the mood. Call it ridiculous. It fits.
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