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Paul Scholes has reiterated his stance that Declan Rice is 'not his type' of midfielder. The former Manchester United star recently faced backlash for suggesting that Sandro Tonali is superior to the Arsenal midfielder.
"I get slagged off for this," Scholes remarked during his appearance on episode 100 of The Overlap's Stick to Football podcast. "I did a top five the other week, and I didn't put people like [Moises] Caicedo and Declan Rice, because I like a different type of midfielder.
"I like a Vitinha at PSG, I think he's brilliant - he's amazing. I thought [Alexis] Mac Allister last year, at Liverpool, was brilliant; now he's not started great this year."
The Old Trafford legend elaborated: "I like that more, not so much an attacking midfielder, but that more controlling one who can do a bit of everything. Not just the defensive one who just gets around it and might score the odd goal here and there, I like the more progressive type."
When questioned about his preferred England midfield, Scholes responded: "[Jude] Bellingham has to be in there just because of his goals, ain't he? Not just for his goals, he's a good player."
"I'm trying to think of a midfield player, but my mind's gone blank. I know there's Declan Rice, and people say, 'you didn't have Declan Rice in your top five,' because he's not my type of midfield player."
Scholes revealed his preference for Tonali over Rice during The Overlap Fan Debate earlier this month. "I think he's better than Rice," Scholes said when discussing the Newcastle United midfielder.
"I really like Rice, don't get me wrong, I think he's got everything. Sometimes he takes a few too many touches of the ball and tries to look a bit more stylish than necessary. He can do everything, but I don't think he does it enough. I prefer Tonali, but they're both good players."
Speaking on Stick to Football, Scholes added: "I don't think we [England] have that type of controlling midfield player now that can do a bit of everything. We haven't got a Vitinha, we haven't got a Toni Kroos or a [Luka] Modric from them days, I just don't think we have that.
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"A while ago, Jack Wilshere was probably the closest to being that type, but obviously, a load of injuries and stuff stopped him.
"I just don't think we've got that type, who has that game intelligence, of when to slow it down, when to fizz it into a centre-forward, I just don't think there's that intelligence around."
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