Declan Rice may have missed last night’s friendly with Barcelona due to having a knock in training, it is crucial that he comes to terms with Arteta’s tactics before the new season begins. Since breaking into the West Ham team as an 18-year-old, the Arsenal No. 41 has gone from strength to strength, learning as he goes..
If he is as good as he was at the London Stadiums, Rice is likely to shine at the Emirates, but Gus Poyet has warned him he ought to be keen on following Arteta’s instructions to the letter. Poyet says that there will be different responsibilities that Rice will be tasked with in Arsenal’s midfield. If he wants to avoid struggling, as Kalvin Philips did in his maiden season at Manchester City, he should execute every order Arteta gives him.
“I don’t know Declan Rice personally, but the most important thing for him is to understand what Arteta wants and how he wants to play,” Poyet was quoted as saying on FFT. “Rice was playing a totally different style at West Ham, and now he’s got a new role, new responsibilities, and new positioning.
“He’s a player that runs a lot, so it’s a different kind of situation. But if he understands it all quickly, he’s going to be amazing. The qualities are there, so he’s going to be an Arsenal player for the next ten years, for sure. But it will depend on the understanding of what Arteta wants, because everyone has got a responsibility; you stick to your position, and that is something new for him.
“I don’t want to compare with Manchester City, but there are similarities because Arteta has worked with Guardiola, so it’s similar to that system.
“For example, you could go the other way and look at Kalvin Phillips — did he understand how to play in that role? Not really, and maybe now he will go somewhere else. So in that position, you could be a top player, but it’s a different ball game, so the next few weeks in pre pre-season will be important for Rice to understand his position.”
Poyet’s warnings may make sense, as West Ham and Arsenal’s playing systems differ. Rice has opened up about the interesting view he is getting about the game since joining Arteta’s project:
🗣️ “It’s crazy. I’m already seeing football in a completely different way. You think you know football when you’re growing up and when you play but when you meet managers like Mikel [Arteta], you realise you don’t really know anything.”
Declan Rice on Mikel Arteta. 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/O16lflUSGR
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) July 26, 2023
I hope he thrives as a Gunner. Mikel Arteta obviously thinks he will, so that’s good enough for me…
Sam P
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He is used to play against weak teams with England, so he has surely known how to play for a high-ball-possession team. Our tactics are just more dynamics and intricate, but he wouldn’t need to change his position if he just plays CDM
How many of England games they really have possession. He will need to change if not he will be a failure. Partey over him anyway anytime!
Partey is a world-class CDM, but I think Arsenal are replacing him with Rice. Partey could still help our midfield by playing inverted-RB or AM
To have both DMs in deep midfield area, Arsenal could instruct Rice to play as Stones did last season for Man City
Partey is not being replaced by Rice, imagine Partey and Rice together in the midfield against a tricky opposition. Arteta have mentioned this i dont know why i keep hearing fans talk about Partey leaving the club.
Romano said Arsenal rejected the offers from a Saudi Arabian club and Juventus, because they didn’t meet Arsenal’s valuation of Partey, which is around £45m
Had those clubs been able to fulfill Arsenal’s demand, Partey would’ve been gone two weeks ago. I guess that was why we sign Rice despite having Partey/ Jorginho/ Elneny for the CDM role and Timber despite having Partey/ White/ Tomiyasu for the inverted-RB role
Partey as an AM? c’mon stop capping nonsense,he is more of a deep-lying playmaker with top defensive skills but not in anyway an attacker of the ball or space.
He played there for Ghana and once for Arsenal
Kkkkk plain truth
Gai, Do England play weak team? I don’t think so. If Xhaka can improve and carry ball forward then Rice can and even score goals. arsenal dynamic okay would make it easy for him. I don’t see Rice taken long to adapt he is a top professional. Against Bacca Havertz and Timber already blending.
I also think Rice can play in Xhaka’s position, but Havertz, Smith-Rowe and Trossard seem to be competing for the role
Its simple Arsenal must go back to basics.
Sticks to the 4 : 2 ; 3 : 1 formation and don’t over complicate.
Declan Rice plays in this formation for club and country, a double pivot with Partey will not only be effective but see the Englishman quickly established himself at the Emirates.
I’m sorry, I have to differ from your opinion. We went with the 4-3-3 last term and had a great success so why go back to 4-2-3-1 just to accommodate Rice I to the team. I think the best way to play him will be in the Xhaka role. That’s simple for him because he has played I. That position and understands it well.
It’s important to be able to win the ball up high in the final 3rd to catch the opposition team off guard. I know Arteta knows this too but he’s trying to see how Havertz fits into the team who acquisition is still a puzzle to me.
Havertz in for Xhaka may work against smaller teams but when we go to the big games like United, City and Anfield we can play a 4-3-3 (4-2-3-1 hybrid) to solidify our defence…
Gogo
That’s a very interesting take and it’s clear as day where you are coming from.
The gaffer preferred formation is the 4:3;3 which we played predominantly in the last campaign.
Can understanding you wanting Rice further up the pitch to win balls in the final third.
We already knows the defensive midfield is Declan Rice favored position and anything else is playing him out of position.
But Rice was bought in to sure up and help provide proper cover for our back four, the game against Man United shows just how important this position is.
Even with a Rice we struggle against Man United because we lock another physical and mobile player to partner him in that role as Havertz and Odegaard cannot out muscles physical teams.
The gaffer already stated Havertz is not at Arsenal to replace Xhaka.
Havertz it is said to already have discussion to have his role tweaked in the team.
The purchase of Havertz is a gamble in my opinion, but have seen enough to know he will be massive for Arsenal when he gets his feet properly wet, think we owed him that patience.
Personally speaking he seems intelligent enough to understand that remit from day 1.
It should be easier for him as he will have a set job and role where as at WHU it looked like he was doing everything.
No offence to WHU but we do have higher calibre of players who will help him with the role he will be assigned too.
This should go for all our players if we are to progess as a team
A 105m player really shouldn’t be micromanaged. Within the system, he needs to be able to play the way he did which resulted in him costing 105m in the first place.
Im sure he’ll adapt quickly to his team mates
Rice in the xhaka role will be great, might worsen the attack a little bit but will improve the defence a lot. Rice, partey axis with odeggard in front is a strong base. He can cover more ground than xhaka so less defensive work for Martinelli and makes the inverted lb more secure.
Starting alongside partey instead of replacing him will remove some burden from his back.
He has already admitted that he discovered upon joining us that he “knows nothing about football” which goes to show his humility and willingness to learn under Mikel and his coaching crew,i guess we will have to be a bit patient to get to see him firing in our colours as he goes through his BEAST MODE transformation which might see us witness the up and down sides of his transformation.
Exactly!in the same interview he also said that he was doing extra one on one videos analysis,always asking questions…so I wouldn’t worry about it.
Just how I see it bro,I don’t expect much from him yet and the fact he has made such admission despite the hype around him and price tag.i’m willing to afford him some time to adapt to our style of play which I’m confident it will be worth our while.
The comical thing Rice never missed a game gor West ham he’s been at Arsenal for 2 weeks and injured already!
AFC special for 2 decades, it’s a talent we have….Partey too