Paul Scholes ‘disappointed’ by one Arsenal star: ‘I don’t really know what he is anymore’
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes is confused by Declan Rice at Arsenal and doesn’t “really know what he is anymore”.
The Gunners signed Rice from West Ham for around £105m in the summer of 2023 with the England international making a big difference in his first season at the Emirates Stadium.
Rice helped Arsenal finish last campaign on 89 points and just two points off eventual champions Manchester City as the Gunners came second for the second consecutive season.
Fast forward to this year and Arsenal are once again second, six points off leaders Liverpool – who have a game in hand on the Gunners – and Mikel Arteta’s side are reeling from injuries to key attacking players.
Rice has been available for most of the season but has only managed to hit top form gradually after a slow start to the season from the England international.
Arteta has used Rice in different positions all season, playing as a deep-lying midfielder or in the left-eight role, but Scholes is now unsure what the Arsenal midfielder is best at.
Scholes said on The Overlap: “Declan Rice, I’m a little disappointed with him because I think he’s been put in a place where we don’t really know what he is anymore.
“Is he that holding midfield player? Is he the one, I’ve heard people like Gary Neville say he should be the one getting forward, scoring goals.
“I’ve never seen him that way. I think he’s almost become a little bit stuck in not really knowing what he is and Arteta knowing what he is.”
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At the beginning of the season, Arsenal boss Arteta told reporters that it would be a “big mistake” not to utilise Rice’s versatility in midfield.
Arteta said: “At his age it would be a big mistake not to do that [play Rice in different midfield positions], and not to have the capacity to play in different positions.
“Then within the game you will have a different role in relation to the opponent as well and what they do. Last year he showed that he has the ability to shift from one game to the other, sometimes in the same game, and to have players like that with the short squad that we have is really important.”
As well as clinging on to their Premier League title hopes, Arsenal are into the latter stages of the Champions League and Bacary Sagna reckons the Gunners can win the top European prize this term.
Sagna greatoffshoresportsbooks.com: “Arsenal can be a surprise in the Champions League because no one expects them to win it.
“Arsenal are a difficult team to play against. They love playing football. They play football. They have the love to move around with the ball, to play in little spaces. Arsenal, for me, represents the definition of what football should be like and how it should be played.”
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