The Arsenal midfielder has played well over 60 matches in the calendar year and admitted he was ‘shattered’ after the narrow win over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final
Declan Rice of Arsenal looks on during the Carabao Cup Semi Final Second Leg match with Chelsea(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
Ahead of the World Cup, Declan Rice said: “It is an obscene amount of games. Every game I walk off and I am knackered.”
Only he was not talking about the impending tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. This quote was from October 2022, just over a month before the World Cup got underway in Qatar. At that time, Rice – then at West Ham United – worked out that he had played in 68 matches in a calendar year, hence the ‘obscene’ comment.
Over the past 12 months for Arsenal and for England, Rice has played in 65 matches. Almost as obscene.
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In the albeit unlikely event Arsenal complete a quadruple this season, Rice could play 27 further games for his club before joining England and Thomas Tuchel for World Cup preparations. Modern managers often talk about players being in the ‘red zone’, which, presumably, is jargon for being tired. Rice must live his life in the red zone.
“I am shattered,” he said, following the 1-0 win over Chelsea in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, which guarantees another game on Arsenal’s run-in. And he looked shattered. “Honestly, the schedule has been ridiculous.”
Finishing top of the Champions League first phase has helped but Arsenal’s schedule remains arduous. And the issue, of course, is just not the amount of matches Rice plays and has played – the 27-year-old has made a remarkable 460 appearances in his professional career – but it is the style in which he plays them.
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Already slated for player of the match honours, it was Rice who surged upfield and played the assist for the Kai Havertz winner against Chelsea deep into added time. No-one does looking tired quite like Rice does, yet, seemingly no-one is as indefatigable. He is Mr Box-to-Box.
The blemish-free Champions League campaign means Arsenal do have a couple of free midweeks coming up, but Mikel Arteta will surely be conscious of managing Rice’s minutes over the next couple of months. And the Arsenal manager might well have a chat with Tuchel in the coming weeks.
After the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, March 22, there is an international break during which England will face Uruguay and Japan at Wembley. Even now, you would hope and assume Tuchel will not start Rice in both games but there is a compelling case for him to have a complete rest.
England skipper Harry Kane was not at his physical best ahead of Euro 2024(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
The physical demands at this summer’s World Cup are going to be severe, that much is for sure. And from that side of things, the planning is going to have to be more meticulous than ever.
It is not only Rice who will need managing carefully. Harry Kane was clearly not 100 percent fit and firing when he went to Euro 2024.
Tuchel only has the March camp before naming his World Cup squad but Rice’s place in that squad, of course, is, with a lot of others, beyond doubt. The England manager, of course, will want to work on tactics, on strengthening bonds and on continuing to get his ethos through to his players.
He will want them all there, that is for sure – Rice and Kane included. And there is no doubt the likes of Rice and Kane will want to be there.
But the international break might be a time for Rice to have a holiday. Because after that win over Chelsea, he certainly looked like he needed one.
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