‘He Won’t Get Any Better!’ Souness Savages ‘Limited’ Declan Rice After England’s World Cup Collapse

Declan Rice has become the lightning rod for England’s World Cup heartbreak, with Graeme Souness branding the Arsenal midfielder ‘limited’ and insisting he ‘won’t get any better’. The 27-year-old started all but one of England’s games at the 2026 tournament, but couldn’t prevent a gut-wrenching late 2-1 semi-final defeat to old foes Argentina. And Souness twisted the knife further, holding up Spain’s Ballon d’Or-winning metronome Rodri as ‘the polar opposite’ of everything Rice offers. Harsh? Perhaps. But after another near-miss on the biggest stage, the question won’t go away: does England have a midfield problem money can’t fix?

What Souness said about Declan Rice

Graeme Souness claims Declan Rice ‘won’t get any better’, labelling the £105m Arsenal midfielder ‘limited’ despite his near ever-present role in England’s run to the semi-finals. For the former Liverpool captain, a three-time European Cup winner in that very position, Rice has hit his ceiling at 27.

Souness’s issue isn’t Rice’s engine or his tackling, which nobody disputes. It’s game control. In his eyes, Rice covers ground and wins duels but doesn’t dictate matches or kill opposition momentum, and that flaw was exposed in the most brutal fashion imaginable as Argentina struck late to end England’s tournament.

England’s 2-1 collapse against Argentina

England were knocked out of the 2026 World Cup at the semi-final stage, beaten 2-1 by Argentina with a late goal that broke Three Lions hearts. Thomas Tuchel’s side went toe to toe with their oldest World Cup rivals for long spells, only to unravel when it mattered most.

It is the familiar English script rewritten in its cruellest form yet: competitive, organised, and ultimately unable to manage the closing minutes of a knockout epic. When Argentina raised the tempo late on, England’s midfield couldn’t keep the ball, couldn’t slow the game down, and couldn’t stem the tide. That, in essence, is Souness’s entire argument.

Rodri: ‘the polar opposite’ comparison that stings

Souness pointed to Spain’s Rodri as ‘the polar opposite’ of Declan Rice, and it’s the comparison every England fan dreads. The Manchester City midfielder, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner, controls matches with his brain rather than his legs: dictating tempo, breaking pressure with a single pass, and strangling games his team is winning.

Rice’s supporters will point to his athleticism, his ball-winning, and his big-game experience for club and country. But the gap Souness identifies is real: England had the most expensive squad depth in world football and still lacked a midfielder who could put a foot on the ball with a semi-final on the line.

Is the criticism fair on Rice?

The honest answer is: partly. Rice started all but one game at this World Cup for good reason. He was among England’s most consistent performers, screening the defence and driving the press through seven weeks of tournament football. No serious analyst doubts he belongs at this level.

But ‘belonging’ was never the accusation. Souness’s charge is that Rice is a very good midfielder rather than a great one, a destroyer rather than a conductor, and that at 27 the transformation is unlikely to come. England’s late collapse against Argentina gave that argument its most painful supporting evidence yet.

What next for Tuchel and England’s midfield?

England’s post-mortem will inevitably centre on midfield balance. Thomas Tuchel built a settled, disciplined side that came within minutes of a World Cup final, but the search for a genuine tempo-setter alongside Rice’s physical platform now becomes the defining question of the next cycle.

For Rice himself, the response starts at Arsenal. The best answer to Souness is the one delivered on the pitch, and at 27 he has at least one more major tournament cycle to prove that England’s most relied-upon midfielder can become its most influential one too.

FAQ