With a commanding display at Liverpool, Declan Rice shows he is Arsenal’s man for all seasons, and reasons | Football News
Did you see Declan Rice? Or rather how did you not see Declan Rice? At Anfield, the loudest and meanest arena in Europe, against a rageful Liverpool, there were large swathes of the game when it seemed that there was more than one Declan Rice on the pitch.
He was there disrupting a pass; he was here bursting forth to create some space in the midfield; he was there mopping up for the faltering centre-back, heading a ball away to safety; he was there too, in the final third slipping in a pass into the box. Was it visual trickery of the retina-dazing fluorescence of Arsenal’s away shirt, or was it for real? For, how can a footballer perform so many roles! Were you sure he was not an AI-spawned robot footballer?
But that’s how Rice has been for Arsenal this season, immense and impactful. A match away from the halfway point, the 105 million pounds invested on him last summer already seems like money well spent, at a time when a ridiculous amount of money is spent on ridiculously inferior footballers. He did not score or make an ass, but made five vital clearances, two decisive tackles and as many interceptions, ran more miles than any midfielder on the pitch, and made 73 passes with a completion rate of 87.3 percent.
But none of the numbers embody the personality he wielded on the field. It’s hard to think of such a powerful footballer at the heart of Arsenal’s midfield since the days of Patrick Vieira. Better still, he is a Vieira wrapped in velvet, his combativeness hidden in plain sight. At his sight, Liverpool’s attackers would suddenly lose their composure, their minds frazzle, they lost the ball, they lost belief. They would slither and slide away from him, like when maneuvering a cursed bend on the highway. It’s their fate that the bend still gets them.
Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, center, attempts a shot at goal in front of Arsenal’s Declan Rice and misses during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Like when the irresible Mohammed Salah stole a ball around 20 yards outside the Arsenal box, and breezed forth towards goal. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw Rice fast advancing. He was a few yards away, but Salah felt the pressure and instead of shooting from a usually favourite perch, from the inside-right channel of the box, he slipped in a pass for Cody Gapko but ended up over-hitting the ball to the goalkeeper. The Arsenal centre-backs breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Rice for saving the blushes.
It was not technically his chore to cover the goalkeeper, but he alone had the vision and drive to sense the danger and the courage to snuff it out. Rice did not touch the ball but his presence alone mattered to scramble the brain of the 10th-highest goalscorer in the league.
It was Rice again who converged into Trent Alexander-Arnold in a five-on-two situation, when the Liverpool full-back hit the underside of the crossbar. He made midfield control a kind of physical art form, impeccable as he was with his timing and movement.
Talisman
Such match-defining moments are splattered all through the season, when Rice has emerged as Arsenal’s tour de force, the footballer who embodies the club’s determination to win the league, after coming so close last year. In all of their pivotal moments, there has been Rice.
Two of his three goals have arrived in stoppage time, both (against Manchester United and Luton Town) were match-winners. The challenges would become stiffer as the season hits the second half after the games on Boxing Day. It’s also after Chrmas that the Gunners tend to implode. But this time, they have Rice.
It’s hard to think of a player transforming a side so swiftly in half a season upon his arrival. Manager Mikel Arteta has been carefully building a side. Rice was supposedly the missing piece, though new holes have crept up in other areas of the field. Arsenal need to build depth, acquire a proven goal-scorer and fill holes in the back-line to emerge as a European superpower. But for now, Rice and Arsenal are in the middle of something special, partying on Chrmas on top of the league.
It’s also an example of smart scouting. Much was made when Arsenal shelled out such a ludicrous sum for him. But the critics discounted a few big factors. A) Quality defensive midfielders come at a price, the second-most expensive entity after strikers. B) Rice is a proven one, with glittering numbers over years; and C) He has the leadership qualities to inspire a team on his own.
Moreover, Arsenal had done their due homework on him before loosening their purse strings. Last year, he won back possession 334 times from opponents, the most any player in the league, 31 more than Manchester City’s impeccable Rodri. He also ended the campaign with more interceptions (63) than anyone else in the Premier League. He also dribbled past players 20 times, a rate of .6 times per 90 minutes. Rodri’s was .9.
Behind every successful Premier League dynasty, there has been an influential No.6, from the times of Roy Keane and Vieira, from N’Golo Kante to Rodri. Arsenal have found one in Rice. Against Liverpool, though, Rice was more than one number, and more than one man.
