Graeme Souness has renewed his harsh criticism of Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, claiming that he plays "too deep" and would be better suited as a centre-back.

Since his move to Emirates in 2023 for £105 million, Rice has become a key player for both Arsenal and England, but Souness maintains that the 27-year-old lacks the qualities needed to be a top-level central midfielder.

Last season, the Arsenal star helped his team win their first Premier League title in 22 years, and over the summer, he helped England reach the World Cup semi-finals. However, following England's heartbreaking loss to Argentina, Souness singled him out for criticism, calling him "limited".

After Arsenal's 2-1 victory over title rivals Chelsea over the weekend, Souness appeared on Piers Morgan's new show "Football Uncensored" on Monday and reiterated his views on Rice.

Souness told Morgan: "How many times do you see him when he's the last man on the ball? In the build-up phase, he's the last man. He's standing between the two centre-backs, or between the centre-back and the full-back. He's the last man. A lot of the time, he's not even playing in midfield".

"In my second or third home game in my career, I dropped back into the back four like all midfielders do today. That's old-school football, that's taking liberties, that's old-school midfield play. You receive the ball without pressure and pass it to the full-back".

Souness continued, explaining that after dropping into the back four and passing the ball 10 yards horizontally between the centre-back and full-back, he was severely criticized by his teammates at half-time. His teammates then demanded that he push forward and actually play in midfield.

Souness added: "He plays too deep; he can't influence the game. I don't think he has enough midfielder attributes. I'll tell you what he can do. Currently he's England's best defensive midfielder, and he can anticipate danger. But the problem is he always stays back".

"So he's not a midfielder, is he? I think he could be better suited as a centre-back. The ball moves faster than he does. I see him run with the ball for 30 yards and then pass it sideways. I like how he plays and how he opens his body to deal with the ball; there's nothing I dislike. But modern players are a bit mollycoddled, and criticism doesn't come easily to them. He's not that complete midfielder".

Morgan then stated that Rice is a world-class midfielder, to which Souness responded: "I'm not sure he'd get into Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, or Manchester City. If you're looking at the best players in that position, Manchester City used to have two: Fernandinho and Rodri. They play in midfield. Next time, watch him carefully. He'll drop back, take the ball easily without pressure, make a 10-yard pass to Thiago Gabriel, and then pass it sideways".

Souness also renewed his criticism of Rice for England's loss to Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals in July.

He said: "When England were winning 1-0 against Argentina, they panicked. 'Oh, what now?' I attribute this to the performance of the midfield pairing of Rice and Elliott Anderson in the engine room".

"Instead of driving the team forward, they dropped back and held hands with the defensive line".

Traducido por IA.

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