Graeme Souness has never been shy to spout a controversial take.
His latest on Arsenal and England midfielder Declan Rice has garnered plenty of attention online.
Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Souness questioned Rice’s credentials as a world-class midfielder and suggested he might actually be better suited to centre-back.
Fill the blanks: The year is 2030 and Declan Rice is now worth £____.
“Declan Rice, for me, is limited,” he said. “You hear people talk about Declan Rice being a world-class footballer. I think he might be a centre-half.
“There’s nothing to dislike about him in terms of his attitude, his athleticism, his commitment from the first minute to the last.
“My criticism is he doesn’t have enough football in him. They talk about him, ‘well, look how he runs with the ball’— that’s a centre midfield player. You shouldn’t do.
“The reason people run with the ball is because they don’t see the picture quick enough.”
Of course, Arsenal fans have been quick to jump to Rice’s defence.
Did Souness even watch Rice in the Premier League last season, where he was arguably the title-winning side’s best player… playing in midfield?
And yet. Recent circumstances may prove Souness right next season.
Why Declan Rice at centre-back could actually happen at Arsenal
The Gunners look set to be without William Saliba for a large chunk of next season, after it has been reported that the France defender played with a broken back at the World Cup.
Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa is being pursued as cover, but that deal is far from done.
And if Mikel Arteta can bring Bruno Guimaraes to the Emirates, the Arsenal manager would have the luxury of being able to drop Rice into defence without really weakening the middle of the park.
Rice at centre-back, Guimaraes alongside Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield — possibly even Martin Odegaard in a deeper position. It’s not as outlandish as it sounds,
Arteta actually deployed Rice there in the Champions League against PSV in 2023 when the defence was stretched on numbers.
He broke through as a centre-back under David Moyes at West Ham, and clearly has the physicality and athleticism to handle it. His reading of the game defensively is already exceptional.
Declan Rice does have his “flaws” as a midfielder
Rice is obviously incredible, but let’s not pretend he is some sort of elite passing metronome. He just isn’t, and that’s fine.
He doesn’t have the same feel for the game in possession as a Toni Kroos or a Vitinha, and never will. You could even argue that his buildup play has created issues for Arsenal at times.
But by the same token, those players can’t do what Rice does either. His physicality, his pressing, his defensive coverage, his elite set-piece deliveries, his ability to cover ground and crash the box. How many players have you seen like that? More than one way to skin a cat.
He didn’t have a great World Cup, no. Not by his standards. But he clearly was affected by illness and injury. It’s a bit much to lay the blame for England’s tournament at his door.
But as for Rice playing centre-back, if Saliba is out for the rest of the year and a centre-back isn’t signed, Souness might not look so silly after all.
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