Graeme Souness has continued his campaign of speaking down on Declan Rice as he demands more from the Arsenal man and other midfielders of this generation.
Before Rice, Souness had Paul Pogba as a favourite player whom he loved to talk about, and when the Frenchman left, he turned his attention to other players, with Rice becoming one of his favourites.
The World Cup semi-finalist is Arsenal’s most expensive signing and has met expectations so far, which explains why few people have discussed his transfer fee. Generally, Rice is seen as one of the best midfielders in the world, and he rarely has a bad game for club and country.
Souness Questions Rice
The former West Ham man can improve and helped Arsenal win the Premier League title last season. In his generation, there are few midfielders who come close to the Arsenal man, yet Souness doubts whether he could do well if he had played when the Liverpool icon played in England.
Rice has established himself as an important player for Arsenal, while his performances have largely justified the significant fee the club paid for him. However, Souness continues to question whether modern midfielders would have succeeded under the conditions faced during his playing career.
The former Liverpool midfielder believes players from his era faced different technical and physical demands, particularly because of the pitches and challenges they encountered.
Souness Compares Eras
He said via the Daily Star: “Don’t ask me, ‘Could I play today?’ Ask me, ‘Could guys [like Declan Rice] have played in the 80s and before that?’
“Where do you need the most technique? On a carpet when there’s no nasty challenges, or on a bobbly pitch where you’re having to take an extra touch all the time and people are launching themselves at you to hurt you?”
Rice remains one of Arsenal’s most important players, but Souness clearly believes the modern game does not demand the same qualities required during his playing days.
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I would not disagree that the skills and abilities required to succeed in today’s football environment are different to those required in Souness’ era.
What I disagree with is the arrogance and conceit implicit in Souness’ criticism. He seems to think that players of his generation would be as successful, if not more so, if they were playing today. I wonder if the flaws and short-comings of the Souness era players were masked by the relatively poor pitch quality and “rougher” football at that time.
In short, would they be good enough to play good football in today’s conditions?
A totally outdated muppet ()
The difference in the speed in which the game is played between his era and today , he would never have been able to kick people like he did then because he would have been blowing out of his backside after 20 minutes.
That is the problem with Souness. He lives in the 1980’s.
He really has no business being a pundit in todays game.
it is quite pathetic really…
Human beings even outside football,are some of the most adaptable creatures on earth. Declan Rice has played for West Ham and Arsenal- two teams with different styles and yet he excelled at both clubs. He has also excelled for England under different managers. With his high football IQ, Rice would do well in any era.
I think that Souness should get back in his box.😂🤣 Did you see what I did there.😉
Souness is a w*nker for sure however… Declan is sometimes too soft n cuddly for me. I grew up during the Patrick Vieira vs Roy Keane extravaganza when it was a requirement that a midfield anchor had to have a generous amount of grime to his game not just grit like our beloved record signing. Its like watching todays NBA having been raised on “the bad boy pistons”. Its too much on the softer side for some of us. And yes i did see him trip over morgan rogers and make him absolutely livid and so that does give me a lot of hope. More of that please Declan.
Souness is just an embarrassment. Retire from “punditry”, you absolute dinosaur!
Perhaps we should be asking if Souness could play in this era. Tough guy, tough image and a world away the game today. I just can’t think that his opinion about Rice has any relevance at all