Arsenal Fans: We NEED to speak about Declan Rice!

Football fans always need a scapegoat, Arsenal fans are no different and at present it feels like it has become Declan Rice. It hasn't helped Declan Rice's case to be out of the North London derby after being sent off vs Brighton. While I think he was ok against Wolves he hardly did anything of note and I feel our whole midfield against Aston Villa was ran rings around by Aston Villa in particular the young Morgan Rodgers who's enhancing his reputation. For England recently he scored vs Ireland, he's got a knack of haunting his former clubs slash nations. He's bagged against Chelsea, West Ham and Ireland side note. But that game is almost irrelevant to this video. Why I'm making this video and why that game is of importance to me is because of Declan Rice's comments after the game in which as you can see on screen he basically alluded to not being fully fit and doing pre-season while the Premier League is going. We all know after the Euros he was granted an extended holiday. While it doesn't look like Saka is at his best, Saka is playing quite great really and Declan Rice is struggling. Now I'm no genius and you lot aren't either and I think a lot of our fans if you were to cut Declan Rice a bit of slack it would be. Clearly the man doesn't look fully fit, let's face it. How many Premier League footballers, 3-4 games into the season are going to be fully fit if you genuinely ask them? How many managers would say their team are looking free-flowing tactically and everything they want? Probably anyone apart from Manchester City would probably say they're not happy and even that, City by their own standards, Pep probably wouldn't say the same. So yeah it interested me because I think football is a funny game, a week's a long time and we've got 38 Premier League games so 30 odd left. The narrative can change very quickly. Now naturally many people aren't convinced of Declan Rice in the 8 row. If you do or don't let me know. That is up for debate but the cold-hearted facts are Mikel Arteta is. He's the one that makes the decisions and Mikel Arteta is the manager. I don't know how you lot look at Declan Rice in the 8 row. I do think he's given, you know, he's improved this game. I think he's a bit more front footed than he was at West Ham. He obviously had his best goal scoring season in terms of output and he's now taking set pieces and showing us in a different light. But I must admit it does feel like drawing blood from a stone. Let's face it, Declan Rice's bread and butter is interceptions, winning the ball back, being a box-to-box kind of ball-winning midfielder. That's his bread and butter. That's what saw him become West Ham's captain, make X amount of appearances for England and West Ham and be bought for £100m. Now for me, we're not going to wake up and he's going to be a Paul Scholes or Frank Lampard and have that guy who will break the lines and things of that ilk. So I do wonder how much are we going to see of Declan Rice in the 8. I'm quite happy for him to play as an 8 and a 6 when the game demands. I like the fact that he's multifunctional. I like the fact that he can win the ball high up the field. We need to remember we want to win the ball as quickly as possible in the opponent's half. That being said, his bread and butter is the 6 people. I do think his bread and butter is in the 6. I don't think Declan Rice is wasted in the 8 role but I think collectively with his high intensity kind of play and his dynamism getting up and down the field, I do think if you put him back in the 6 you lose that. That being said, if he has a suitable partner for me, Declan Rice is the 6. And I mean, let's face it, that's what we like about Declan Rice. We like his mentality, his interceptions, his ball winning. And while we've seen at Arsenal Football Club, whether it's Manchester United, the Chelsea game, you know, scoring against West Ham or Luton, he has the knack of scoring at vital times. We don't like him necessarily for his ability to break lines, although he's been improving in his passing statistics for people that say he doesn't pass the ball forward. But once again, how much are we going to get out of Declan Rice in that 8 role? I'd imagine Mikel Arteta is deeming that we haven't got enough and we're seeing a suitable amount. As I said, for me, he's at home in the 6 logically. You know, as I said, Arteta wants to win the ball back as high as possible and as quickly as possible, if I'm completely honest. We want to also use Declan Rice collectively to manipulate oppositions into playing the ball into certain passing range. And with his high recovery runs, with his dynamism and his intensity and his ability to get up and down the field, naturally, that is something that helps us. Because again, the way he's playing that 6 role at West Ham is very different to what he currently faces in midfield at Arsenal Football Club, beyond the obvious. I do think people get too hung up on positions. I think you see 6 is the furthest midfielder forward and likewise at times the 8 is the deepest. Likewise, you see a lot of movement up front. So I do think in the modern day, from what it might say on paper to what you see in the reality, are also at times very different. But I mean, he's a protector on transition. He allows the more creative players to have more freedom to express themselves in the opposition half. While Declan Rice is suspended and obviously Mikel Moreno is obviously not an option for the North London derby, one does wonder, you know, in the good way, what Moreno and Declan Rice give Arsenal. They give us height. They give us withdrawals in the air and on the ground. They give us greater impetus. They solidify the midfield, especially if Moreno is able to stay fully fit and we can get some continuity on that left-hand side with our options. In theory, California when he gets his start, obviously Mikel and potentially Raheem Sterling or Martinelli or Trossart people. One does wonder though, with that midfield, while I think it will give the licence to Watergard and I do think it's a high-intensity, all-action midfield, one does wonder if Mikel Moreno and Declan Rice have that guile to consistently break lines. You know, we're used to the Cesc Fabregas, the Santi Cazorlas. I know they're easier said than, they're easier to talk about than actually signed. But I believe we miss a player like that. And I think as great as Mikel Moreno is and actually undervalued on the ball, that's not his bread and butter. And the same goes for Declan Rice. In the most respectful way, they're piano pushers versus piano players. Odegaard would be the piano player. And what I mean by that is if you imagine the example of a theatre people, if the piano pusher doesn't literally put that piano on the stage, then nobody's going to go to the show and watch the pianist play really, which would be in that case Odegaard. So it is important. But Declan Rice and to a degree indirectly Moreno, their game is about winning the ball back and being facilitators and almost the links between protecting the defence and also allowing our more creative players to thrive. So I guess that's a wider discussion, people. And one does wonder, I think we're seeing early this season already, teams are setting up in not necessarily low blocks so far, but mid blocks and they're stopping us playing centrally. I think Unai Emery's Aston Villa did a fantastic job of that. I think Brighton did a great job of that when it was 11 versus 11. When a man got sent off, it became 10 Arsenal players against 11 Brighton players, and they had an extra body in terms of the referee. So one does wonder if that midfield pairing or in general we have enough to break the lines. But in short, people, I think people need to lay off Declan Rice a bit. I still think he's playing a minimum of 6 out of 10. I think he'll show his quality. And I know football is about what you're doing, not what you've done. But I mean, you can't go from singing this man's praises to this pile on really and truly. As much as I think there's fair concerns about our football club at the moment, I do think there's a lot of over-exaggerating, not just about Declan Rice. Unless your name is David Rayo, Kai Havertz or Bukayo Saka, indirectly maybe Califuri in his minutes and Timba, I don't think the sentiment around the players and around the football team and our pursuit of Premier League glory is necessarily positive. And I think there's a lot of pile on. So I do think there's a bit of a luxury you need to give Declan Rice. I think we need to consider he's not fully fit. I think we need to give him the luxury and that still this while he's suspended for the Spurs game, there's still not been an evident consistent partner for him. As you know, there was a bunch of different midfield options owing to a lot of circumstances last season. So I still believe in Declan Rice. He's still one of the first names on the team sheet. And I mean, let's be honest people, you know, he was accused by people, including myself of passing backwards frequently. But when you look at the statistic on screen that raises in question, what the hell are we actually talking about in that regard? So I've got no problems about Declan Rice getting back to his best. Of course, for this week, Declan Rice is irrelevant because of the North London Derby. But that being said, let me know your thoughts. Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe. Do you think Declan Rice is better as an eight or a six? Would you play him as an eight or a six? You know, who do you think is the best partner long term from currently at Arsenal? And what would you do with the midfield at Arsenal going into the North London Derby? Because you could put Kai Havertz there. Timbers got to be an option. You could move Odegaard there. Jorginho could come into the fray. There's many options we could do. We can even go to a back three, whether we do or not is another thing. But I don't feel there is a solution that every Arsenal fan is 100% convinced on going into the North London Derby. Hopefully Mikel Arteta is. But let me know your thoughts on all the points raised today, people. Let me know your thoughts on any other creative juices I've got flowing indirectly with certain comments. Don't forget to turn on your notification bells, like, comment and subscribe. God bless you all. Peace!