Much has been made of England's performances in their first two games at Euro 2024, and many have been disappointed by Gareth Southgate's side's displays.
They may be unbeaten in Germany and taken four points so far in Group D, but the team has underperformed and looked unbalanced in both games - with the midfield coming under the most scrutiny.
Southgate's decision to play Trent Alexander-Arnold in the centre hasn't worked out, and the overall balance in the middle doesn't seem to be functioning.
It makes Declan Rice's role even more important, and former England international Danny Mills believes the Three Lions would be in all kinds of trouble without the Arsenal man.
“If Declan Rice gets injured, what do England do? They're pretty much doomed," he told BetVictor.
"There's no direct replacement for Rice anywhere near his quality or experience in that position.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold has been tried in there and it hasn't quite worked. Conor Gallagher is a different type of player. Kobbie Mainoo is very, very young. Adam Wharton is very young too and inexperienced.
“We don't have players like Jorginho, Gilberto Silva, Emmanuel Petit or Didier Deschamps. We've never had one of those sorts of players.
"You have to go back to Nicky Butt, who was quite happy to sit and play and was very, very underrated for what he did.”
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