Alan Shearer has admitted that watching one Arsenal star fail to play at his expected standards at Euro 2024 is leaving the England legend rather ‘frustrated’ this summer.
The European Championship has proven to be a strong opportunity for Mikel Arteta to scout some of their transfer targets. Turkey star Ferdi Kadioglu is the subject of a bid from Arsenal. The left-back’s teammate Arda Guler has also drawn Arsenal’s interest after his wonder goal.
But Euro 2024 has not been a happy hunting ground for every Arsenal player in Germany so far. While Kai Havertz has thrived for Germany, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice have been vital players in an underperforming England side and Leandro Trossard has struggled for Belgium.
Alan Shearer is ‘frustrated’ with Arsenal star Declan Rice’s England role at Euro 2024
The way that Rice played as Denmark held England to a 1-1 draw this Thursday has even left Shearer ‘frustrated’. Despite excelling in a box-to-box role at Arsenal following a club-record transfer last summer, Gareth Southgate has used the 25-year-old in a purely defensive area.
Southgate has utilised Rice as England’s anchor against Serbia and Denmark to let Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold operate as the mobile midfielder. But the experiment has failed, with the Reds vice-captain unable to influence moves and posing a defensive liability.
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Fielding Alexander-Arnold in England’s midfield is also denying Manchester City centre-back John Stones the chance to bring the ball out like he does at Etihad Stadium. But Rice sitting back frustrated Shearer, who questions Southgate’s ability to get the best out of his players.
Shearer told BBC Sport: “I spoke after the game about John Stones and how, in two games at this tournament, we have not once seen him come out of defence with the ball or operate in midfield like he does all the time for Manchester City.
“Similarly, if you were listening to my co-commentary of the Denmark draw, you would have heard how frustrated I was that we are not seeing Declan Rice burst forward from midfield the way he does for Arsenal.
“Gareth is a bright guy, so he will know what is coming. He will also know that his job is to get the best out of his players, and he is not doing that at the moment.”
Gareth Southgate is stopping Declan Rice from advancing forward at Euro 2024
Rice secured second place in Arsenal’s Player of the Season poll after proving he is far more than a defensive midfielder after joining from West Ham United in July. The 53-cap England star received 24% of all votes after a career-best seven goals in 38 Premier League outings.
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He even laid on a further nine assists – only captain Martin Odegaard offered Arsenal more with 10 – with another career best. Rice never scored more than four or assisted more than four goals in any Premier League season with West Ham through 204 games in seven terms.
Yet Rice recorded just two touches inside Serbia’s penalty area and four in the final third as England won their Group C opener 1-0, per WhoScored. He also only recorded two touches in the final third against Denmark, with neither coming inside De Rod-Hvide’s penalty area.
Arsenal’s winners and losers at Euro 2024
In this week’s episode of the Arsenal Insider Podcast, Will Jones and Rahul Lakhani debated the first few days of action at the European Championship. With Arsenal players such as Kai Havertz and Kieran Tierney experiencing mixed starts to the tournament, the pair assessed which Gunners were the winners and losers from the opening group stage ties at Euro 2024.
There was also some talk about transfers based on the Euros, with Arsenal-linked Amadou Onana’s display for Belgium discussed. While Leandro Trossard’s poor performance for the Red Devils was also analysed and Bukayo Saka’s sensational England showing was lauded.