Graeme Souness Critiques Declan Rice: ‘Old Man’s Football’
Graeme Souness has launched a fierce critique of Declan Rice, accusing Arsenal’s £105 million man of playing “old man’s football” and questioning whether he belongs among Europe’s elite midfielders.
The 27-year-old has been widely praised for his performances since joining Arsenal, including in the recent 2-1 win over title rivals Chelsea. Souness watched that game and saw something very different.
Speaking on Piers Morgan’s Football Uncensored show, the former Liverpool captain homed in on Rice’s positioning in the build-up, arguing the England international spends too much time effectively as part of the back line.
“How many times do you see him as the last man with the ball?” Souness said. “In the build-up, he's last man. He's sitting between two centre-halves or between the centre-half and the full-back. He's last man. A lot of the time, he doesn't play in midfield.”
For Souness, that habit isn’t just a quirk of modern tactics. It’s a flaw.
He compared it to his own early days as a player, when he briefly dropped into defence before being told to stop.
“In my second or third home game of my career, I went into the back four like all midfield players do today. It's old man's football. It's cheating. An old man's way of playing midfield. You get the ball under no pressure and you play it out to the full-back.”
Souness did still call Rice “the best defensive midfielder in the country right now” and praised his ability to “smell danger”. But he believes Rice’s deep role blunts his influence where it matters most.
“He plays too deep to affect the game,” Souness continued. “I don't think he's got enough football. Let me tell you what he can do. He's the best defensive midfielder in the country right now, he smells danger. But then again, he's back there all the time.”
The criticism did not stop at positioning. Souness went as far as suggesting Rice might be playing in the wrong area of the pitch altogether.
“He's not a midfield player then is he? I think he may be a centre-half. The ball travels faster than you do. I see him run with the ball 30 yards and pass it square. He's a lovely kicker of the ball and opens his body up well, there's nothing to dislike about him. But modern players are a bit precious. Criticism doesn't fall easily on these players' shoulders. He isn't the complete midfield player.”
When pushed on whether Rice deserves to be described as world class, Souness was unequivocal. He does not see Rice walking into the biggest midfields on the continent.
“I'm not sure if he gets in Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Man City,” he said. “If you want the best in that position, City had two of them – Fernandinho and Rodri. They played in midfield. Next time, please watch him. He goes in and gets it cheap under no pressure, a 10-yard pass off Gabriel, and passes it sideways.”
Souness then widened the lens, blaming Rice for failing to take control on the biggest international stage. He pointed to England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina in the summer and laid a large part of the responsibility at the door of the midfield.
“When England went one-nil up against Argentina, they s*** themselves. ‘Oh, what do we do now?’ And I put that down to Declan Rice and [Elliot] Anderson as the central midfield players in the engine room,” he claimed. “They didn't get them playing. They went back in, held hands with the back four.”
Rice has long been hailed as the heartbeat of both Arsenal and England’s midfield. Souness, though, has drawn a hard line: until Rice steps away from the back four and dominates higher up the pitch, he will remain, in the Scot’s eyes, short of the company he is so often placed in.
