09 Sep 2026 10:35:29
Any other posters see or listen to the Souness broadside aimed at Declan Rice?
Just to get it out there that for me Souness is in the top 5 midfielders I’ve seen. In his pomp for us he was the best in his position in the world.
However, his criticism of Declan is imo uncalled for & just sour grapes, & as Andy Jacobs on Talksport said, it was a comment aimed at saying Rice isn’t or never will be as good as I was.
For me Rice is a fine player and totally instrumental in Arsenal winning the title. I’d have him on our side every day of the week!
09 Sep 2026 10:57:54
Agree with you, Bristol. Love him in our side.
09 Sep 2026 10:56:05
Souness talks a lot of garbage. He lives in the 'put your medals on the table' mentality. He's a shoe in on my all time LFC first 11 but other than that I ignore his ramblings.
He used to be a pundit on RTE during UCL coverage and you just couldn't listen to him. Ronnie Whelan is as bad if not worse! Ray Houghton is good though!
09 Sep 2026 11:44:55
Watching Rice play, I would definitely have him in my side. As has been said, Souness (and most other pundits, tbf) do sometimes get lost in their own ramblings and risk disappearing up their own backsides!
09 Sep 2026 12:08:52
Souness is still stuck in that whole "Back in my day" mentality. I love him, but a lot of his opinions are trash.
09 Sep 2026 12:08:53
I’d take Souness over 500 Declan Rices - is Rice a decent player? Of course he is. Is he one of the best central midfielders on the planet? Not even close. Was Souness in his day? “You're goddam right he was.”
When one of the best to ever do it is getting criticised for having an opinion on someone who plays in his position - yep, it’s official, the world has officially lost its mind.
Souness was the daddy; Rice won’t come close to what he achieved.
Regardless of if he’s not your cup of tea, he’s one of the greatest to lace up a pair of boots.
{Ed025's Note - great player CH...but an idiot as well mate who lives in the past..
09 Sep 2026 12:29:13
At least he tried to explain what he was saying instead of the usual guff from pundits these days.
09 Sep 2026 12:31:09
Exactly Crazyhorse. ??
09 Sep 2026 11:55:48
Indeed, Shankly's. I was appalled with the way Souness was going after a guy like Paul Pogba who literally could be his own son over some crap about how Pogba wasn't good enuff (as he was, as you say) and all that jazz.
He is doing the same thing with Rice now and I find it pathetic, in poor taste and down right bullying, at this point. One of these guys need to grow up and sadly, it's not Declan Rice.
09 Sep 2026 13:34:55
The world of football is funny. Some who were/are incredible on the field are just average (or below) off of it. And some of them who were just mostly average on the field (Klopp, Guardiola, Luis Enrique) are brilliant off of it.
09 Sep 2026 13:05:31
100% Ed mate - my only view on it really is if anyone has earned the right to have an opinion it's Souness - end of the day he's just mega salty that the modern players earn more in a week that he did in his career, then add he's a miserable sod and Scottish on top and you get what you get ha.
Still can't argue with his point though, Rice isn't even close, neither was Pogba.
{Ed025's Note - its a different game these days CH and as a DM i think Rice is as good as you get mate..
09 Sep 2026 14:16:12
Guardiola? Average on the field?
Well that’s one take.
09 Sep 2026 14:52:45
I think Rice is a very good player but vastly overrated. Good engine but very basic on the ball for me; always looks like a defender playing in midfield.
I’ve seen Arsenal fans comparing him to Gerrard, and he is not even as good as Henderson.
09 Sep 2026 14:58:19
Yes. Average on the field. Because the comparison I am making is the on versus off field. Not comparing his on field with other players on field. Maybe too subtle, a take, for some.
09 Sep 2026 14:59:22
Rice would walk into our team and any other current European team. He's an excellent player. Only my opinion.
09 Sep 2026 15:00:50
It's not bullying at all.
And how on earth could Pogba literally be his own son?
Maybe listen to what some United legends have to say about Pogba, OliRed.
On second thoughts, maybe stop listening to ex players if you're that easily triggered.
09 Sep 2026 15:26:37
If Pep was “average” on the field then there weren’t many “above average” players around. Most managers and players were effusive with their praise for him including Baggio (player) and Johan Cruyff (manager).
{Ed666's Note - Guardiola was mid ????
09 Sep 2026 15:29:48
Declan is a prototypical Premier League player. An athlete with a third lung. He's a good player to have in most midfields. He also takes one hell of a corner.
I do think he sometimes disappears against more technical midfields/midfielders. Some of that could be down to the way Arteta uses him, of course.
Does he compare to the greats like Souness, Gerrard - no chance.
Perhaps he stands out because of the dearth of truly world class midfielders right now.
09 Sep 2026 15:41:33
The point I am trying to make is that, for example, Guardiola, Klopp and Luis Enrique were not world class, as players. Maybe even very good players, I'll accept that. But as coaches/managers they definitely were/are world class. And no one would question it. Marked impact and difference in presence, on the field and off the field.
09 Sep 2026 15:54:14
Declan Rice is an athlete, Graeme Souness was a footballer.
09 Sep 2026 17:02:16
He was also a bit of a thug.
09 Sep 2026 17:25:43
SG I don’t think he walks into any team in the world. He does not get in PSG, not a chance, and he does not get in Barcelona as well.
For a box-to-box midfielder, he has scored 25 goals, had 31 assists in 316 games.
No, he is not world class, good player but very limited. That Champions League final he was not to be seen, same as the League Cup final.
So Souness makes a statement about a player, every pundit in this country has got their head up their arse.
Even when we went there last season for the taking and we dominated the game, just because the amount of world class players are the same now does not mean you elevate good players to world class.
09 Sep 2026 17:25:45
Guardiola was a very good player.
09 Sep 2026 17:51:53
Guardiola was also a drugs cheat.
09 Sep 2026 14:06:42
Agreed Ed don't think Souness would be on the pitch longer than 2 minutes in today's game ha.
{Ed025's Note - great player in his era CH but as you say would not be suited to todays game mate..
09 Sep 2026 18:06:44
AA agreed, many of the best coaches/managers across many sports are previous players of modest talent. Hoping that gives AI the edge over Arteta & Alonso!
09 Sep 2026 18:15:00
Souness is right. He’s a good player but that’s it. I’ll bet he doesn’t get a look in when we play them. May win a free kick at the Emirates but that’s it.
09 Sep 2026 19:07:06
Rice is a fantastic all round midfielder, the best in the Prem I’d say. His only problem is Arteta sucking the life out of him (imagine Rice under Klopp. ?)
As for Souness, gets into everyone’s all time best Liverpool 11, enough said.
Was it him that said “the question shouldn’t be could I play in today’s era it should be could this lot play in my era”?
09 Sep 2026 18:47:18
I think someone else's comment was spot on. He's basically a runner and suited to the physicality and pace of the PL. With that in mind, he probably would improve our midfield in the league at the moment.
But, there's a reason he disappears (like the majority of English players) on the international stage. He's technically limited.
09 Sep 2026 22:08:16
Rice doesn't get in PSG midfield, nor Barcelona's for a start.
Rice is great. Souness was way better. Don't understand why this is even an issue.
09 Sep 2026 18:19:22
Don't know if you've ever seen it ED but there's a great interview with Strachan and Stelling where Strachan said once Souness announced he was off to Italy he felt safe enough to move down to England ha, follows it up with a comment on sharing a room for Scotland and Souness hanging his Y-fronts up on coat hangers ?
{Ed025's Note - great stuff mate..