Emmanuel Petit has hit out at England head coach Gareth Southgate over his use of Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice at Euro 2024.
The former West Ham star shone for following his £100m move to the Premier League giants last summer and was one of the signings of the season.
was operated in a No.8 role during the Premier League run-in and this looks to be his position moving forward as head coach Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu scour the market for a new defensive midfielder.
However, Rice has been used as a defensive midfielder by Southgate at Euro 2024 and has been unable to dominate games as he s proven he can for Arsenal in the Premier League.
Rice is expected to start alongside Manchester United s Kobbie Mainoo
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Petit claims Rice has been unrecognisable at Euro 2024 and has revealed what worries him the most about Southgate s side.
I don’t recognise Declan Rice playing for England as he isn’t playing the same position as he does for Arsenal, Petit said.
I really like when Declan Rice plays as a box-to-box player as he can support the strikers and be close to the penalty area, shooting from outside the box.
The fact he is playing as a holding midfielder doesn’t make sense to me, he can’t play there.
You are only getting around 60% of his quality by doing so. I think the lack of confidence is not helping him.
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He added: Declan Rice is not playing in the same environment he has at his club. Arteta and Arsenal have a very clear DNA on the pitch and this isn’t the case with the National team.