Declan Rice: Souness Highlights Key Area For Improvement To Become A Top Player

Hugo van Dijk

5 min read

Post on May 03, 2025

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Graeme Souness, a midfield maestro in his own right, possesses decades of experience at the highest level of the game. His insightful commentary and forthright assessments are highly valued, making his opinions on Declan Rice’s potential particularly significant.

Souness's Critique of Declan Rice's Game

Graeme Souness, known for his direct style, has been vocal about Declan Rice's strengths and weaknesses. While acknowledging Rice's exceptional defensive capabilities and leadership qualities, Souness has pointed to a crucial area needing attention: the attacking phase of his game. His comments, though critical, are aimed at helping Rice unlock his full potential. Keywords like "Declan Rice weaknesses" and "Souness on Rice" highlight the focus of this discussion.

• Lack of X-factor: Souness hasn't explicitly used the phrase "Declan Rice weaknesses," but the implicit criticism revolves around a lack of consistent game-changing moments in the attacking third. While Rice excels at breaking up play and shielding the defense, his contributions to goal-scoring and creating chances need bolstering.
• Areas of Excellence: Souness has been clear about Rice's strengths. His defensive solidity, reading of the game, and leadership qualities are undeniable assets. His ability to win back possession and dictate the tempo of midfield battles is second to none for a player of his age.
• Comparison to other Top Midfielders: The implicit comparison is to players like Kevin De Bruyne or Bruno Fernandes, who not only excel defensively but also provide significant attacking contributions, consistently creating and scoring goals. This highlights the gap Souness sees in Rice's overall game.

The Key Area for Improvement: Attacking Prowess and Creativity

The key area for Declan Rice improvement, as highlighted by Souness, is his attacking prowess and creativity. This isn’t about transforming him into a flamboyant number 10, but about adding a more potent attacking dimension to his already impressive skill set. Keywords like "Declan Rice attacking," "Declan Rice goals," and "Declan Rice creativity" are central to this section.

Why is this crucial? Because top midfielders in the modern game are expected to contribute significantly at both ends of the pitch. Simply being a defensive stalwart isn’t enough to compete with the very best.

• Increased Goal-Scoring Threat: Improving his shooting accuracy and power, along with smarter positioning in the box, can lead to a significant increase in goals.
• Improved Playmaking Abilities: Developing better vision, passing range, and the ability to pick out key passes will unlock his potential as a creative force. The "West Ham midfielder attacking" aspect needs to be significantly upgraded.
• Enhanced Ability to Dictate the Tempo of Attacks: Rice needs to improve his ability to dictate the rhythm and speed of attacks, leading transitions effectively and providing the impetus for scoring chances.

How Declan Rice Can Develop His Attacking Game

Declan Rice's potential is immense, but reaching the pinnacle requires focused development. This section explores "Declan Rice training" and "Declan Rice skill development" strategies.

• Specialized Coaching: Working with a coach specializing in attacking midfield techniques could dramatically refine his shooting accuracy, technique, and decision-making in the final third.
• Vision and Passing: Dedicated training sessions focusing on improving his passing range and vision, including practicing weighted passes and through balls, would improve his playmaking ability.
• Attacking Movements: Analyzing game footage and practicing different attacking movements and positioning within the penalty area will significantly impact his goal-scoring ability. "Improving attacking midfielder" is a direct application of this training.
• Decision-Making: Analyzing game footage to identify opportunities for better decision-making in the attacking third is crucial to unlocking his potential.

The Role of his Current Club (West Ham)

West Ham's tactical setup plays a significant role in Declan Rice's development. Analyzing "West Ham tactics" and "Rice's role in West Ham" is essential to understand his limitations. While West Ham often utilizes a defensive approach, adapting Rice's role to include more attacking responsibilities within the current system, or transitioning to a more attacking system, could significantly benefit his overall development. It's a discussion around optimizing his role to better unlock his potential.

Declan Rice's Path to the Top

Souness's critique, while seemingly harsh, is constructive. The key to Declan Rice improvement lies in bolstering his attacking contributions. By focusing on improving his goal-scoring threat, playmaking abilities, and attacking movement, Rice can bridge the gap separating him from the world's elite midfielders. The "Declan Rice potential" is vast, and with dedication and the right guidance, he can become a top-tier player. The "Declan Rice top player" aspiration is achievable with focus on these key areas.

Discuss Declan Rice’s improvement – share your thoughts on how Declan Rice can become a top player. What other aspects of Declan Rice’s game need attention to help him reach his full potential?