Paul Scholes Calls Out Declan Rice For Behaviour During Tottenham vs Arsenal

Paul Scholes has shared his concern about one Arsenal player following their victory against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

Pressure has been mounting on Arsenal in recent weeks as they bid to become champions of England for the first time since 2005.

The Gunners have seen their lead at the top of the Premier League cut in recent weeks after failing to pick up wins against Brentford and Wolves. Their advantage over Manchester City was just two points going into the match against Spurs.

They desperately needed to pick up a win and that’s what they did as they crushed their fierce rivals. Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres both scored twice as Arsenal ran out comfortable 4-1 victors.

Declan Rice Concern Raised by Paul Scholes

Following the match, Scholes appeared alongside former teammate Nicky Butt and presenter Paddy McGuiness on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.

Butt said that he’s not overly confident that Arsenal will beat City in the title race as they lack leaders. He said, per the Metro: “I would put a Roy Keane in there because I think they need a leader. They need some leaders on that pitch saying, ‘We can do this! We can get [over the line].’

“If Martin Keown was in that team, I would be a lot more confident of them going on and winning the league because he’s a leader. I don’t know, maybe nowadays in modern football you don’t have leaders like that.

“I’m pretty sure Declan Rice is a big leader, I’m pretty sure William Saliba is a leader but they just need someone to grab them by the short and curlies and go, ‘Lads, we can do this. We’re a good team!’

“They proved that yesterday and, I get it, Tottenham weren’t unbelievable, they were bad. But they’ve won 4-1.”

Scholes then criticised Rice for being ‘too emotional’, highlighting his actions just before his error that led to Randal Kolo Muani’s equaliser. In response to Butt’s comments, he said:

“I know what Nicky is saying there. When Roy [Keane] was getting the team together and leading the team really well, there was a certain calmness about it.

‘When you’re going for a league title, when you’ve got tough games, there has to be a calmness about you. I think potentially [he’s a captain]. It’s just when I look at him now, he’s so emotional.”

He added: “I don’t like all that [Rice geeing up the crowd just moments before Kolo Muani’s goal]. I don’t like people being so emotional like that.

Butt: Behaviour of Arsenal Players Rang Alarm Bells

Butt went on to say that Arsenal players should have had a go at Rice, considered one of the best midfielders in the world, after his mistake led to Kolo Muani’s goal.

He said: “What rang a little alarm bell for me is not one Arsenal player had a go at him for the mistake. If you rewind to Martin Keown’s days, Tony Adams’ days, Patrick Vieira’s days, Thierry Henry’s days, all these players, they would have [torn into Rice].

“With us, if it was a Steve Bruce or a Bryan Robson or a Mark Hughes or an Eric Cantona, they would take you to the cleaners. I’m like, who are the ones that are leading the team to try and get them over that line? That’s the concern for me.”

Arsenal and Rice return to action on Sunday March 1 when they welcome London rivals Chelsea to the Emirates Stadium.