• His reading of the game and positional sense defies his age
Image: /REUTERS
There was something entirely symbolic about Joe Cole handing Declan Rice and Callum Hudson-Odoi their England match jerseys on Monday night.
This generation’s original wonderkid; Cole knows about coping with teenage hype. It was fitting then that the recently retired England international played a part in the biggest night of Rice and Hudson-Odoi’s fledgling careers so far.
Rice navigated his way through the same academy as Cole. West Ham always believed Cole was destined for the very top. They were right, though some may argue he never fulfilled his full potential. Their belief in Rice is just as profound.
The fact Gareth Southgate chose Monday night to give the 20-year-old his first international start suggests the England manager’s faith in the young central midfielder is equally as strong. Rice has already made 63 senior appearances at domestic level for the Hammers. Nothing, however, quite prepares you the pressures of playing for England away from home. Yet Rice took the night in his stride.
There were signs of early jitters, his first touch of the night was heavy - Harry Maguire quickly on the scene to bail out his young team. It was minor blip, though, on what was largely an impressive full international debut. Not that anyone at West Ham doubted that Rice would take to playing for England like a duck to water.
Nor did Southgate. Rice’s technical ability has never been in question, but it’s his mentality that sets him apart. Unfazed and unruffled, Rice sat in front of England’s back-four like he’s been playing there for years.
Disciplined when he needed to be. Expansive when the opportunities arose. His reading of the game and positional sense defies his age. With every successful pass, you sensed his confidence grow. Within five minutes he was ordering his team-mates about; urging Michael Keane to pass the ball quicker, for Maguire to give him the ball.
When Keane mistimed a header in the eighth minute, Rice was rapidly on hand to nullify any danger. When Marko Vesovic handed Montenegro a shock lead, Rice stood in the centre circle barking at his team-mates to raise themselves. Here, in living colour, was England’s new midfield general.
After the furore over his switch to England having made three senior appearances for the Republic of Ireland — and the ensuing controversy over his infamous pro-IRA posts on social media — it is clear Rice believes he has found his international home.
You get the feeling England’s holding midfielder role will be Rice’s for the foreseeable future. Hudson-Odoi found his full England debut just as productive — a direct assist for Ross Barkley’s first goal helping Southgate’s side overcome their tricky opening. The Chelsea youngster’s ability to almost breeze past opposing full backs at will a key feature in England’s successful comeback on Monday night.
Likewise, when raiding off the left wing, his capacity to cut inside on to his preferred right foot before a striking at goal a potent weapon. Well done for Southgate for instructing Hudson-Odoi to switch flanks with Raheem Sterling.
Yet the cut throat nature of international football is never too far away. One lapse can cost you as Hudson-Odoi discovered when losing a header and failing to track his runner in the lead up to Montenegro’s goal. But that part of Hudson-Odoi’s game will develop.
“It’s perfectly understandable (Hudson-Odoi’s role in the Montenegro goal), when you’re 18-year-old there’s a lesson to learn,” said former England striker Ian Wright. “What you want from your winger is to read the danger. He’s going to learn his lesson tonight. Just jump, knock him. Make it hard. You don’t have to be great in the air.”
It’s important to point out, of course, that Rice and Hudson-Odoi are at different stages of their development. Hudson-Odoi hasn’t even made a Premier League start yet; Rice a relative veteran in terms of the top-level experience.
Hudson-Odoi remains raw — but supremely talented and not out of place in the senior international set-up. The fact he was able to impress in the face of constant racial abuse speaks volumes for his temperament.
He appears to have the character to compliment his undoubted talent. On the whole, he flourished on Monday night. However, a stint with the Under 21s during the European Championships in Italy this summer will benefit the Chelsea youngster — as would a club manager who trusts him enough to actually play him in the top flight.
His time to be an England regular will come. Rice, though, is England’s present and future.