Declan Rice failed to help England reach the World Cup final, but Graeme Souness was set to give a scathing review of the Arsenal midfielder’s supposed shortcomings.
Graeme Souness didn’t hold back (Image: Sport Uncensored)
Graeme Souness has been brutal in his assessment of Declan Rice, calling him “limited” and predicting the Arsenal star “doesn’t get any better”. Rice, 27, started all but one of England’s World Cup matches and helped the Three Lions reach the semi-finals.
However, the midfielder and his teammates were unable to match, and despite leading until the 85th minute, they lost 2-1 to arch-rivals Argentina in the closing stages. Rice came on as a substitute for Thomas Tuchel, but England remained at the top of the table after not being fully fit for much of the tournament.
The former West Ham captain fell ill before England’s quarter-final match against Norway after battling hamstring, calf and back problems during the group stages and only managed to play in the first half. However, that didn’t stop Souness from attacking Rice and his midfield partner Elliott Anderson.
“[Anderson]is 22, so he has a chance to get better. Declan doesn’t get any better. He’s still in top form at 27,” the Liverpool legend told Sport Uncensored. “I don’t think the two of them play enough football. I see them as players who recycle the ball… but I don’t think they’re hurting people.
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Souness continued: “If you want a player who is the exact opposite of those two, you’re going to see arguably the best player in the world in that game the night before, and that’s been the case for the last few years. Even when (Spain) scores goals, he’s still on the front foot with his pass selection and he doesn’t run with passes unnecessarily or run in a straight line all the time.”
“He’s a solid midfield player. I think these two young players – certainly young players in Anderson’s case – have their limits. For me, Declan Rice has his limits. You hear people talking about Declan Rice as a ‘world-class footballer’…I think he could be a centre-half.”
“There’s nothing I don’t like about him, his attitude towards the game, his athleticism, his dedication from the first moment to the last.
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Declan Rice played through injury at the World Cup (Image: Harry Langer/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
“My criticism of him is that he doesn’t have enough football. They say, ‘Look at how he runs with the ball.’ As a central midfielder, you shouldn’t do that. And the reason people run with the ball is because they don’t see that image early enough…
“You don’t want to run the ball too well. I run with the ball to Declan Rice, run 20 yards and face the opposition player, the handbrake goes on and he passes the ball square.”
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