Declan Rice is regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation but it appears the English sensation has failed to tick all the boxes for footballers of his class, according to top English football pundits.
Manchester United legend and pundit Roy Keane and his fellow pundits (Graeme Souness and Jamie Redknapp) tore into the former West Ham star for his lack of goals.
According to Keane, Rice’s struggles in front of goals has been a chink that has dragged down the footballer behind his competitors.
Rice has 6 goals and 8 assists in 45 appearances for Arsenal after joining the club. He has scored 6 goals with 7 assists in 35 Premier League appearances and 0 goals with 1 assist in 10 Champions League appearances.
During his spell with West Ham United, the footballing sensation recorded just 15 goals with 13 goals in 245 appearances for the club.
Speaking to ITV Sport, Man Utd legend Keane said:
“I don’t think he’s been great this season, I really don’t. I think he’s not really kicked on.
“For all the talk about him, a lot of good PR coming out of West Ham about how much he’s worth, I think he needs to do a lot more. Doesn’t score enough goals, doesn’t get enough assists.”
Former Premier League player and manager Graeme Souness, including Jamie Redknapp, seem to align their thoughts to Roy Keane’s as per Rice’s underwhelming goal stats.
Amidst the whirlpool of criticisms from the three pundits, Rice has taken his defense, insisting his goal count is inconsequential as per his role. He also questioned the critics on their respective tallies during their playing careers.
“Because Roy Keane, (Graeme) Souness, (Jamie) Redknapp, people that talk about my goalscoring ability, if you looked at their goals, they didn’t score hundreds in their career.
“But they’re remembered for what they did as midfield players: Roy Keane breaking up play, being a hard-tackling midfielder, won loads of titles for United.
“The same with Souness. So I don’t know why when it comes to me it’s all about goals because it’s never been my game. Since I’ve been scoring, no one has said anything,” he said to the Athletic.
Rice penned down a five-year contract with Arsenal after joining the club from West Ham as their most expensive signing for £105m. He has been crucial to the Gunners’ push for the Premier League title race this season.
