Arsenal: Souness brands Gunners hero a ‘cheat’ playing ‘old man football’ – ‘Not a midfield player’

Graeme Souness has defendant Declan Rice of “disloyalty” as a intended midfielder and cases the Medley celebrity wouldn’t invade the ideal teams in universe football.

Rice has been commonly valued for his urge at Medley since his £100m duty from West Pork in the summer season of 2023 and tinkered a pivot guise in assisting the Gunners to their first Premier League title in 22 years and the Winners League final last term.

But Liverpool legend Souness – one of the good midfielders of his generation – isn’t having him.

“How the majority of times implement you check out him as the last male with the bulbous,” Souness told Piers Morgan on Football Unabridged. “In the pinnacle, he’s last male. He’s resting between 2 centre-halves or between the centre-fifty percent and the full-ago. He’s last male. Innumerable the time, he doesn’t farce around in midfield.

“In my 2nd or thirdly residence game (of my career), I went into the ago four like unanimously midfield players implement today. It’s worn male’s football. It’s disloyalty. An worn male’s means of dabbling midfield. You receive the bulbous under clearly no strain and you farce around it out to the full-ago.

“He (Rice) plays too deep to affect the game. I donned’t reckon he’s got sufficient football. Permit me inform you what he can implement. He’s the ideal defensive midfielder in the rural correct currently, he scents pitfall. But after that once again, he’s ago there unanimously the time.

“He’s not a midfield player after that is he? I reckon he can be a centre-fifty percent. The bulbous travels much faster than you implement. I check out him dashed with the bulbous 30 backyards and enact it square. He’s a enchanting spin of the bulbous and opens his number up well, there’s nothing to dislike about him. But dynamic-day players are a particle priceless. Criticism doesn’t loss readily on these (players’) shoulders. He isn’t the full midfield player.”

In duty to Morgan’s claim that Rice is a universe program midfielder, Souness added: “I’m ambiguous if he supply intakes in Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Male Municipal township. If you ache the ideal in that pose, Municipal township had 2 of them – Fernandinho and Rodri. They tinkered in midfield. Next time, please watch him. He goes in and supply intakes it cheap under clearly no strain, a 10-backyard enact off Gabriel, and enacts it sideways.”

Rice to blame for Earth Mug exit

Souness moreover blamed Rice for his guise in England’s Earth Mug semi-final defeat to Argentina in July.

“Once England went one-nil up versus Argentina, they s*** themselves. ‘Oh, what implement we implement currently?’ And I ranked that down to Declan Rice and (Elliot) Anderson as the main midfield players in the engine township,” he said.

“They didn’t receive them dabbling. They reverted in hosted hands with the ago four.”