Keane questions Declan Rice’s role in Arsenal bottling – ‘Got to get a grip’ | OneFootball

Roy Keane wants to see more from Declan Rice and advised the Arsenal players to “fall out with each other” to beat Manchester City to the Premier League title.

and Manchester City’s win over Chelsea means the two title-chasers will be level on points if Pep Guardiola’s side win their game in hand and beat Arsenal in the crunch title clash next weekend.

Amid talk of Arsenal bottling the title having led the way for the vast majority of the season, Keane insists the current malaise is “on the players” and urged Rice to show more leadership and “get a grip” of his teammates.

He told Sky Sports: “The position they’re in is still fantastic. On the back of a tough run you come up against Bournemouth who haven’t played for a while, and they’re at it. You have to smell these things.

“It’s not as if Arsenal learned from the first half. They were doing the same in the second half.

“And people like [Declan] Rice – we’re talking about leadership skills. They’ve got to get a grip of people.

“People are looking Arteta. The fans are nervous. No, this is on the players. The fans aren’t going to go with you. The manager can only do so much. He’s put a brilliant squad together. You’re in a great position. Do not let this slip.”

He added: “We’ll find out about what kind of characters these Arsenal lads are over next three or four or five weeks; what they’re made of.

“They need to challenge each other, not be best mates with each other but fall out with each other. Because again, if they slip up here, they’ll never forgive themselves.”

Fellow pundit Jamie Carragher insists Arsenal need to get their heads right to maintain their spot at the top of the Premier League table.

“The thing for Arsenal right now is how they are here [pointing to his head,” he said.

“There’s been this talk all week of Manchester City [coming back], and it’s how they can overcome that.

“But a manager is not going to change now, after being a manager for five or six years, in the next week. We know how Mikel Arteta is going to go about it.

“He’s going to back to his strengths – the back four and maybe Declan Rice in there, causing problems and getting on the ball.

“His strength is not in the attacking sense. As I’ve said all season, they haven’t got an outstanding attacker.”