Declan Rice was unable to help England reach the World Cup final, prompting Graeme Souness to give a scathing review of the Arsenal midfielder’s supposed shortcomings
Graeme Souness didn’t hold back(Image: Sports Uncensored)
Graeme Souness has ruthlessly described Declan Rice as ‘limited’ – and reckons that the Arsenal star ‘won’t get any better’. Rice, 27, started all but one of England’s games at the World Cup, helping the Three Lions reach the semi-finals.
But the midfielder and his team-mates fell short, suffering a late 2-1 defeat at the hands of old foes Argentina, despite leading until the 85th minute. Rice was subbed off by Thomas Tuchel while England were still in front, having not been fully fit for most of the tournament.
After battling issues with his hamstring, calf and back during the group stage, the former West Ham captain caught an illness before England faced Norway in the quarter-finals, only managing to play the first half. But that hasn’t stopped Souness from laying into Rice and his midfielder parter, Elliot Anderson.
“(Anderson is) 22, so he’s got a chance of getting better. Declan won’t get any better, he’s looking as good as he’ll get at 27,” the Liverpool legend told Sports Uncensored. “I don’t see enough football in the two of them. I see them as players who’ll recycle the ball… but I don’t see them hurting people.
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Souness continued: “If you wanted the polar opposite to those two, the night before you see arguably the best one in the world at that, and has been for a couple of years, in Rodri. (Spain) go a goal up and he’s still getting on the front foot by his choice of pass, not running with it unnecessarily and not going square all the time.
“He’s a proper midfield player. I think these two young lads – certainly in Anderson’s case, young lad – are limited. Declan Rice, for me, limited. You hear people talk about Declan Rice, ‘a world-class footballer’ … I think he might be a centre-half.
“There’s nothing to dislike about him in terms of his attitude to the game, nothing to dislike about him in his athleticism, nothing to dislike about him in his commitment from the first minute to the last minute.
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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 he doesn’t have enough football in him. They talk about, ‘look how he runs with the ball’. As a centre midfielder, you shouldn’t do [it]. And the reason people run with the ball is they don’t see the picture quick enough …
“You don’t wanna carry the ball really well. I’ve got Declan Rice running with the ball, runs 20 yards, is confronted by an opposition player, the handbrakes goes on and he passes it square.”
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