England player could have ‘stopped’ Oyarzabal winner as Mills explains Rice theory – exclusive

England right-back Kyle Walker was not at fault for both of Spain’s goals in Sunday’s Euro 2024 final, says ex-Three Lions defender Danny Mills.

La Roja defeated England 2-1 on Sunday to be crowned European champions for a record fourth time.

Left-winger Nico Williams opened the scoring having received the ball in lots of space in the box, with substitute Mikel Oyarzabal scoring a late winner from left-back Marc Cucurella’s assist.

Both goals might have come down Walker’s side but Mills believes he is not to blame, noting that Marc Guehi – England’s best player at Euro 2024 – could have stopped Oyarzabal’s winner.

“No, obviously the first one you can argue he is out of position as the ball is passed to Williams, but in both goals England have lost the ball in both build-ups and got caught out in transition so we must keep the ball better,” Mills exclusively told Football365 (via 888poker ).

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“I’m not trying to pick on anyone but for the second goal Marc Guehi must get to the ball first before the Spanish player scores, he was the wrong side of him which enabled the goal to be scored. If he gets himself the right side of the player so when the cross comes in, he will win the ball and stop the goal.

“These are the fine margins at the top level, these are the fine details that matter the most.

“There are plenty of reasons why we lost, we missed chances, [Declan] Rice had a header saved, Guehi had a header off the line, [Ollie] Watkins missed a chance.”

We also asked Mills about Declan Rice, who had a night to forget against Spain.

There have been plenty of questions asked about Rice’s England credentials after such an impressive season for Arsenal and Mills thinks he might be better suited to playing further up the pitch.

“I think Declan will look at himself and be honest that he didn’t perform at the same level that he has been for Arsenal last season,” he said.

“I think he has played a little further forward for Arsenal which has benefited him, maybe in the next tournament we will have that holding midfielder, like [Kobbie] Mainoo which will give Declan a chance to play that bit further forward and be more aggressive on the ball to dominate possession.

“We have to look and say who played at their full potential for England this tournament as you need everyone to play at a top level to win it. I wouldn’t say most of our players were eight or more out of ten during the tournament and you need to be this to win it.”

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