Rice says England must deal with the pressure
England is "desperate" to win UEFA Euro 2024, but Declan Rice feels the Three Lions are putting too much pressure on themselves.
Gareth Southgate and his team have faced plenty of scrutiny in the media after unconvincing displays in their matches so far.
England beat Serbia 1-0 in its Group C opener before drawing 1-1 with Denmark on Friday (AEST).
While it sits in pole position to progress as group winner ahead of facing Slovenia, England, particularly in attack, does not look up to the standard of some of the other teams to have impressed so far at the tournament.
But Rice believes adding extra pressure does not help.
He said: "We are all so desperate to win, to be leaders, to go out there and give people memories for lifetimes and sometimes I maybe feel like we put too much pressure on ourselves where we could just go out there and let it just take care of itself.
"We know we can be better in and out of possession and there is lots to improve on, which is a positive in a way.
"I think there is probably more pressure now from the outside just because of the seasons some of our players have had.
"If you look at the goals that our front four have scored this year, it’s [more than] 100 between them. Of course, there is expectation because they are the best players in the world, and that goes for everyone throughout the team.
"There's going to be that pressure. This is England [at] a major tournament. But this is our job and this is what we have to deal with."
England's questionable displays have seen it drop from being a UEFA Euro 2024 favourite to the third-most likely team to win the tournament, behind France and host Germany, according the the statisticians.
England rounds out its Group C campaign against Slovenia on Wednesday (AEST).