Declan Rice slated as Paul Scholes worried about Arsenal star's behaviour in Spurs win

Arsenal may have comfortably won the North London Derby, but Declan Rice's actions in the match has casued some concern for Paul Scholes

Paul Scholes has criticised Declan Rice for allowing his emotions to cloud his judgement during Arsenal's North London Derby triumph against Tottenham. The 27-year-old endured a mixed performance in Mikel Arteta's commanding 4-1 away win over Spurs.

Whilst Rice worked tirelessly across the pitch, he bore responsibility for Randal Kolo Muani's equalising goal and subsequently surrendered possession when the Frenchman found the net again, though that effort was ruled out. The England midfielder's mistake for Tottenham's goal was not helped by the sight of him urging his team-mates to maintain concentration before losing the ball himself.

The £105million signing from West Ham United has rarely faced scrutiny since his high-profile switch to the Emirates Stadium and has been one of the club's standout players this season. However, Scholes didn't hold back in his assessment of the midfielder, suggesting he'd allowed the occasion's intensity to compromise his performance.

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Speaking on the Good, the Bad and the Football podcast, Scholes and fellow former Manchester United star Nicky Butt analysed Rice's showing in detail. Butt acknowledged Rice's potential to become an influential figure for the north Londoners, whilst noting he's yet to demonstrate the commanding presence of Premier League icons such as Roy Keane.

In response, Scholes said: "When Roy [Keane] was getting the team together and leading the team really well, there was a certain calmness about it. When I look at Declan Rice, he almost looks too emotional.

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"He's lively, he's, 'Come on! Come on! Come on!' and then he makes his mistake. When you're going for a league title, when you've got tough games, there has to be a calmness about you.

"I think potentially [he's a captain]. It's just when I look at him now, he's so emotional."

The former United midfielder then focused specifically on the instance where Rice urged his team-mates to maintain concentration immediately after Eberechi Eze's opening goal, before the England international lost possession to Kolo Muani moments later.

Scholes said: "I don't like all that [Rice geeing up the crowd just moments before Kolo Muani's goal]. I don't like people being so emotional like that.

"People will call me a miserable b****** and say that you don't want to take emotion out of the game. And of course we don't, we want emotion but it has to be in the right way.

"Scoring goals and celebrating, that's great. But game-management in game situations, there needs to be a calmness."

Rather than dwelling on Rice's mistake, Arteta opted to highlight the midfielder's response to his error. The Gunners manager said: "I said at half-time: we carry on playing, with the attitude like Declan has done today. When he made an error, the way he played after.

"That's attitude, personality and courage to stand up in a difficult moment. Attitude, how you approach things. You can feel sorry for yourself. You can look at: 'Oh look at this stage'/

"But when you're kids, you dream to play these kind of games. You recognise the opportunity that we are lucky to be where they are."