Roy Keane points finger at Declan Rice as Arsenal wobble in title race | Football

Roy Keane says Declan Rice isn’t showing enough leadership within the Arsenal team because the Premier League leaders wobble within the title race.

The Gunners are still six points clear at the highest of the table, but confidence has been rocked after a nasty weekend for them.

Mikel Arteta’s men were beaten 2-1 at home by Bournemouth on Saturday lunchtime after which watched Manchester City romp to a 3-0 win at Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.

City are the team six points behind them, with a game in hand and with Arsenal going to the Etihad on Sunday in a mammoth fixture.

The house team on the Emirates underperformed against the Cherries and while he isn’t criticising how he has played, Keane feels Rice needs to lift the degrees of his teammates.

The Manchester United legend feels Arsenal are suffering with nerves because the title race hots up and Rice is someone who needs to resolve the issue.

‘That is where Rice has to point out a bit more leadership skills, I do know he’s doing his best out on the pitch but he’s got to pay money for people,’ Keane said on Sky Sports.

‘That was a nervous performance, but if you happen to’re going to play top level sport…it’s okay being nervous, it’s the way you take care of it. It’s your decision making and body language from certain players.

‘People like Rice, we’re talking about leadership skills, they’ve got to get a grip of individuals.’

The Irishman, who knows plenty about winning Premier League title races as a midfielder, says edgy Arsenal performances are all the way down to the players, slightly than manager Mikel Arteta who’s coming under some pressure.

‘At Arsenal quite a lot of the feedback the previous couple of days, individuals are taking a look at Arteta, the fans are nervous. No, that is on the players,’ Keane said.

‘The fans aren’t going to do it for you, the manager can only achieve this much. He’s got an excellent squad together, you’re in an ideal position, don’t let this slip.

‘At this moment in time they’re letting the nerves get the higher of them but you’ve got to take care of that and that’s just footballing decisions.

‘And don’t go on an ego trip to play 50 passes, just hit the goal man, because if we’re nervous I’d slightly be nervous up there than nervous and us attempting to be too clever and provides the ball away cheaply.

‘They [Bournemouth] got confidence out of Arsenal’s nervousness. They’ve got to get a grip of that or it can slip by.’

Keane picked out Rice for instance of an Arsenal star who needs to point out leadership, however it is a job for all the squad, as he tells them that losing this title race will leave a scar.

‘That is on the players now,’ Keane continued. ‘We’ll discover about what type of characters these Arsenal lads are over the following three, 4, five weeks, what they’re manufactured from.

‘Challenge one another, not being best mates with everybody, falling out with one another. In the event that they slip up here, they’ll never forgive themselves.’

‘It’s an enormous punch within the face’

Speaking after the surprise loss to Andoni Iraola’s side, Arteta said: ‘We were very removed from the extent that we were shown. That’s for certain, especially in certain areas which might be critical if you play against a team like Bournemouth. They were very clear. But, again, I don’t wish to criticise any player, especially here, publicly.’

He added: ‘It’s extremely disappointing; it’s an enormous punch within the face, but what I said to the boys, now it’s about how we react to that, since it’s game on, it’s going to require now an enormous spirit, quite a lot of fight and really clear how we’re going to approach that.

‘There are not any grey areas; we’re in, we’re out, and we should be very, very, very strong and determined to approach it another way than we’ve done today, especially when the sport wasn’t going our way.’

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