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Paul Scholes suggests Mikel Arteta may be making a mistake with Declan Rice at Arsenal

Shamanth Jayaram

Tue 11 February 2025 10:45, UK

Declan Rice is one of Arsenal’s most important players.

The Englishman, who joined the Gunners for a club-record fee in the summer of 2023, has been unbelievable under Mikel Arteta.

🅰Rice is one of the first names on the team sheet every single week, and his performances are almost always outstanding in the middle of the park.

Paul Scholes🦋, however, is not happy with what he’s seeing from the 26-year-old.

Paul Scholes delivers verdict on how Declan Rice is being used at Arsenal

Rice’s position at Arsenal has caused a lot of debate over the last year.

𓂃The England international mostly played as a number six at West Ham and also for the national team. That is where he made a tremendous name for himself.

💮However, Arteta views him more as a box-to-box midfielder, and Rice has been given more freedom in the number eight role on the left side of the Gunners’ pitch.

𝕴Scholes does not agree with that thinking at all.

The Manchester United🉐 legend, who is among the greatest midfielders England has ever seen, thinks Arteta doesn’t even know what sort of a player Rice is anymore.

𓆏Speaking on The Overlap, Scholes said: “Declan Rice, I’m not disappointed with him but 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 that people say, I heard Gary Neville say he should be the one getting forward and 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.”

What does Declan Rice’s stats say?

ဣRice is world-class as a number six – there’s absolutely no debate there.

If Arsenal need him to start in Thomas Partey’s🧸 role and protect the backline, there’s nobody better than him to do that job.

🍸However, Rice is more than capable of playing in the advanced role too, and his stats since joining Arsenal prove that.

𝓰As the table shows above, Rice is delivering as a number eight. 20 direct goal contributions in 41 games while playing in a box-to-box role is not a bad record at all – it’s almost a goal or an assist every other game.

✤Scholes is not wrong to prefer Rice as a defensive midfielder – many others do too. But, to say that he cannot play in the more advanced role is not right at all.

ꦡArteta knows what he is doing with Rice as a left-sided number eight, and there’s no reason to change that in the remainder of the season.