Rice hits back after Souness claims he's 'cheating' with 'old man's football'
Declan Rice has responded after Graeme Souness claimed the Arsenal midfielder is “cheating” by playing “old man's football”, with the pundit insisting Rice is really operating as a makeshift centre half rather than a genuine midfielder.
Souness, speaking as a television pundit, did not hold back in his assessment of the England international. “A lot of the time, he doesn't play in midfield. I think he may be a centre half. He's back there all the time. It's old man's football. It's cheating. An old man's way of playing midfield,” the Liverpool legend said.
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Rice, who was instrumental in Arsenal winning their first league title in 22 years and helped England reach the World Cup semi final in July, gave a detailed response when asked about the criticism.
Rice points to his numbers
“For a centre back, I think my numbers are not bad!” Rice said. “My numbers since I joined Arsenal speak for themselves. I think I've had a lot of assists, a lot of goals and to be a top class centre back getting those numbers I'm delighted with that!”
Since the start of last season, Rice has six goals and 16 assists in an Arsenal shirt, a record few recognised centre backs would come close to matching.
The 26 year old also addressed the history between himself and Souness, suggesting the criticism is nothing new. “Look, Graeme's got his opinion. I think he's had his opinion probably since my West Ham days, if I'm being honest with you. But it's one of them things. As an ex-pro you're going to have an opinion on something.”
Rice added: “I've seen his views. I can't change his opinion. I can only do what I do, which is go on the pitch, perform, play well and block out the noise. I can't really say much because he was way before my time, I didn't really get to see Graeme as a player. Obviously I know him as a pundit. So I'm sure if I met him in person there would be no disrespect there. I'd shake his hand. I'd chat with him. Yeah, it doesn't matter. It's an opinion at the end of the day. It's football.”
Using Kane as an example
Rice went further, using a recent example involving Harry Kane to argue that deeper, more withdrawn positioning is simply part of how the modern game is played. “Look, if you speak about, as you said, the positioning and old man's football, look at Harry Kane. We played him the other week against Bayern Munich, he dropped next to the centre backs 20-30 times in the game to pick up the ball. The game's different now.”
The timing of the exchange comes with Rice about to earn his 82nd England cap, with Thomas Tuchel's side facing Spain in a winner takes all Nations League clash at the Metropolitano in Madrid on Sunday night. “This is massive. You are going away to the Metropolitano, playing the world champions in a game to see who can top the group. I don't think it can get any bigger than that,” Rice said. “We have a massive motive to win the group, to beat Spain, as the away team would be a massive thing for us. Already, the mindset is in a really good place, the manager's messaging has been really good so we need to go there and put on a performance.”
As reported by the Mirror, Rice's response adds another chapter to an ongoing debate about his role and positioning, one that will continue to be scrutinised as Arsenal's season progresses.
