Gary Neville has admitted that Declan Rice drives him crazy at times, with how long he spends in possession, and has urged Arsenal to move the ball quicker.
The Gunners took another huge step towards a first Premier League title in 22 years with a 1-0 win over Burnley.
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Kai Havertz turned in Bukayo Saka’s corner for the only goal of the game; however, Mikel Arteta’s team made really hard work of the win.
Following the hard-fought win, Neville dissected Arsenal’s display and highlighted Rice as an area of frustration during the game.
Gary Neville says Declan Rice spends too much time in possession
Gary Neville has warned Declan Rice that he spends too much time on the ball, and he should be looking to get the ball to Arsenal’s attackers quicker.
At times, Arsenal produce some great combination play, but there were too many occasions where Rice, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
Neville told Sky Sports: “Saliba and Gabriel, who are excellent defenders, I couldn’t speak highly enough about them. But they should be on the ball as little as possible.
“Not just necessarily as little as possible in terms of passes and touches, but the time that they spend on the ball should be limited.
“I was like that. I played a service game for 20 years of my career. My job was to get the ball to the most talented players on the pitch as quickly as I possibly could.
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“Sometimes I see them just sort of dilly-dallying on it at the back. Sometimes Declan does it in central midfield; he can pass it by the way as well. And I think, come on, it just drives me crazy.
“It’s a different way of operating. They’re trying to draw the opposition out rather than sort of what would be, you know, push it around them and shift them from side to side and probe.
“They do it sometimes, and they do it effectively, particularly in this right channel with Odegaard and Saka when they combine. But yeah, they just don’t do it enough.”
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