‘Nowhere near’: Pundit says 24-year-old Arsenal player has got so much worse lately

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal are in poor form right now.

There’s no getting away from it, the Gunners’ standards have slipped as of late.

They’ve now lost three of their last five league games, and their title charge is quickly fading.

So, what has been the problem at Arsenal as of late? Well, some of the Gunners’ key players just haven’t been at it lately.

Speaking on the Handbrake Off Podcast, Adrian Clarke has been discussing some of Arsenal’s recent underperformers, and he’s highlighted Declan Rice as a player who has gone backwards in recent weeks.

Rice has gone backwards

The pundit shared his verdict on the England international.

“It’s hard to pin it on one thing, against Liverpool I would’ve had Saliba and Rice as the star players along with Gabriel, but those three players have certainly been nowhere near the same level across the last two games, Declan Rice struggled a bit against West Ham and he wasn’t himself and at Fulham he lost his man from the corner, he hasn’t had two of his better games,” Clarke said.

Not good enough

There are no two ways about it, Rice hasn’t been good enough recently.

He almost looks as though he’s lacking confidence at the moment and questioning his own decision-making.

Against Fulham over the weekend he looked truly scared by the idea of driving with the ball, and his passing is getting less and less progressive.

Rice, on his day, is a fantastic player, but when he’s not at it, the whole team suffers.

Arsenal are certainly reliant on Rice at the moment, and his recent lapse in form has led to the Gunners dropping key points at a key time of the season.

Let’s hope that Rice can get back on track and Arsenal can put things right in the coming weeks as they desperately try to win the title.