At a Glance:
- Roy Keane had his say on Declan Rice’s leadership qualities.
- The Arsenal midfielder has donned the captain’s armband in the past two games.
- Roy Keane believes there is a problem in Rice’s character that holds him back as a leader.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side will be hugely reliant on Declan Rice in the coming weeks as they aim to lift silverware this campaign.
The England international has a case for being the Gunners’ best performer this season and on Sunday, the visitors will be hoping he rises to the occasion against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Paul Scholes predicted Manchester City to beat Arsenal, a result which would hand Pep Guardiola’s men a massive psychological edge in the title race.
However, Arsenal’s key players such as Rice must ensure that they put a marker down as a collective and earn their first victory against City in the league during Mikel Arteta’s reign away from home.
Roy Keane says Arsenal star Declan Rice is ‘too nice’
Rice’s leadership was questioned against Bournemouth as he captained the North Londoners in their recent 2-1 defeat and against Sporting CP as well, Arsenal were only manage to take home a 0-0 draw.
With question marks surrounding this Arsenal side in the title fight as a whole given their losses in the Carabao Cup final, FA Cup quarter-final and against the Cherries, the midfielder’s role in his side bouncing back with a bang against City was mentioned on The Overlap’s podcast, Stick To Football.
However, Roy Keane claimed that Rice is “too nice”, which prevents him from holding his teammates accountable and being an old-school leader, as he said: “He’s too nice!”
“All I ever hear is he’s a really nice guy and he’s a good guy and all this.”
Roy Keane added that against Bournemouth, Rice should have taken the onus to bark orders at his Arsenal teammates, who seemed uneasy and eventually lost the game.
“I know he’s a good player but I don’t think he gets a grip of people. He’s best mates with everyone. I mean, falling out with everyone, challenging the lads in the dressing room. I remember Bournemouth, they’re criticising the manager, Arteta, listen, after 50 odd minutes, he made three substitutions against Bournemouth, he didn’t sit on his hands until the last 10 minutes, he did make changes.”
“That’s when eventually it comes down to the players. I want Rice to challenge people. So you see with Bournemouth and other games where it’s not going well, I don’t see Declan Rice pulling anybody. His performances are fine, don’t get me wrong but that’s not enough.”
“Did he do it against Bournemouth? When everyone was a bit nervous, did he get a grip of his teammates or did he smash anybody? Bournemouth players were all having a lovely day at Arsenal!”
Mikel Arteta revealed how Arsenal players view Declan Rice as a leader
Having led Manchester United to four Premier League titles as a captain, it’s safe to say that Roy Keane has every right to comment on leadership in modern-day football.
With Rice faring well against Sporting as Arsenal’s skipper, he will be keen to step up to the plate against Manchester City as both a player and a leader.
Intriguingly, Mikel Arteta revealed on Thursday that the decision to hand the armband to the former West Ham dynamo came from his teammates as they view him as a “great leader.”
Arteta said via HaytersTV: “They made a decision because Declan, I think has earned as well the status, the role, he’s taking ownership as well in difficult moments and he’s a great leader.”
The Spaniard added: “He’s a top player for us and I love that other players take that ownership.”
The fact that Rice’s teammates handpicked him as their skipper in Martin Odegaard’s injury-enforced absence is testament to the respect he commands in the dressing room as a leadership figure.
