Declan Rice felt like he put in the big performance needed on his return to the Republic of Ireland at the end of a promising few days under “refreshing” interim England boss Lee Carsley.
Life without Gareth Southgate began on Saturday evening with a 2-0 win at a sold-out Aviva Stadium, 55 days after the narrow loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Rice and Jack Grealish scored the goals in Dublin as they ignored the boo boys on a hostile return to Ireland, who they represented at different levels before switching allegiance.
Arsenal midfielder Rice, who won three senior Republic caps, refused to celebrate his fine opener as a sign of respect.
“My nan and granddad, my dad’s side of the family, are all Irish,” he said. “They’ve all passed away, they’re not here any more.
“So, I think to have celebrated would have been really disrespectful of me, with them obviously not being there any more and with them being my dad’s parents. I didn’t want to do that, to be honest.
“I had such an amazing time playing for Ireland, in the first team, the under-19s, -21s. They were great memories that live with me.
“I don’t have a bad word to say, I wish them all the best.”
Rice harnessed the hostility by putting in one of his best England performances on what could have been a tricky day in Dublin following what he admits has been a sluggish start to the season.
“I was really happy,” he said. “Obviously I came back to Arsenal late (after the Euros).
“To be honest, I’ve not been feeling 100 per cent fit so far. Kind of been doing my pre-season in the Premier League.
“Today I feel like I took a real step. I was feeling back to myself, feeling springy, feeling like I can run around the pitch, feeling more powerful.
“I feel like I took another step, which is obviously going to help me at Arsenal. I felt really good, and I knew I needed a big performance, because so far this season obviously I got sent off last game (against Brighton) and the first two games I was a little bit rusty.”
England face Finland at Wembley on Tuesday before attention turns back to club matters, giving Carsley a few more days to make his mark on the back-to-back Euro finalists.
Parachuted in for the autumn fixtures following Southgate’s exit, the 50-year-old former Republic midfielder has impressed the players in his first week with them.
Carsley also had to deal with furore over his decision not to sing ‘God Save the King’, with some even suggesting he is not fit for the England job as a result.
“Is that what’s been (said)?” Rice asked. “I’m not on Twitter or I haven’t got any news apps so I’ve not seen what’s been said about Lee.
“I know he played 40 times for Ireland. That meant a lot to him in his career. Now he’s England manager.
“Obviously, I can’t call for what he wants to do. All I know is that from us, from the set of lads, we’ve been so impressed with him this week. He’s been so refreshing.
“His meetings have been top, really to the point, and the way we play and train is really different so I think all the lads are really happy with him.
“Obviously, we had such an amazing time with Gareth. Some of the best memories that we probably could ever imagine. The only thing that was missing there was, obviously, we didn’t win a trophy.
“But with Lee now, I think he’s adapted so well to the job.
“He’s given a lot of lads a lot of confidence to go and play. Look at Jack today. I think Jack’s best when he’s got an arm around him and he’s told how good he is.
“I think Lee’s done that this week and Jack went out there, and when Jack’s playing with personality and confidence he’s one of the best players in the world.
“I think that’s what Lee’s going to keep bringing into this team.”
