Editor’s note: This article has been updated since it was first published on September 8, 2023.
When Granit Xhaka left Arsenal for Bayer Leverkusen this summer, he took with him more than just late runs into the box and screamers from outside of it.
The Switzerland captain was admired by all three of his full-time managers (Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta) during his seven years in north London. He started in 96 per cent (216 of 225) of his Premier League appearances despite not being truly popular among the majority of fans until his final 18 months at Arsenal, when he took on a more attacking role. Why was that?
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“He’s got that presence,” Arteta said after one of the most blatant examples last season, away to Oxford United in January.
No matter the make-up of Arsenal’s midfield this season, it was essential that ‘presence’ did not live and die with Xhaka. Arteta and sporting director Edu were already set on Declan Rice as their top target for the summer and he has shown a similar, if not more blatant, sense of presence during his first two blocks of games as an Arsenal midfielder.
His 96th-minute winner stole the show against Manchester United, but his performance was sprinkled with moments that drew a similar response from Arteta.
“He was very dominant,” said the Arsenal manager. “In those big games, you need that — a player that grabs the game and understands when to add speed, when to break it down and when to control the game.”
The same could be said of his performance in the 1-0 win over Manchester City. His goal-line clearance from Josko Gvardiol kept Arsenal level in the opening minutes, but it was Rice’s involvements in midfield that counted.
Once the game settled, there was an air of tension which his anticipation helped break twice in the space of two minutes. The first came in the 21st minute when he intercepted Gvardiol’s pass infield, making his run as the ball left the defender’s foot, before poking the ball to Martin Odegaard.
The next, in the 23rd minute, he made his move as the pass was played and poked the ball to Eddie Nketiah. The striker won a foul, allowing Arsenal to settle and getting a strong reaction from the crowd.
Similar moments helped Arsenal survive and grow in the second half. Early on, it was his tackle on Rico Lewis which became a nice left-footed pass into Gabriel Martinelli’s path for a shot.
As City started to attack more, it was his excellent hooked sliding tackle on Matheus Nunes — which also ended with Rice passing to a team-mate as he left with the ball.
Against Manchester United last month, his important moments came in the opening 20 minutes. Neither team started with attacking intent and energy needed to be injected into the game. Rice offered that spark three times simply with his approach to the game rather than anything tactical or pre-planned.
He is already on the move as the ball leaves Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s foot to find Anthony Martial on halfway.
That anticipation then sees Rice force the striker further back into his own half before Manchester United play the ball long.
Arsenal recover the ball with no issue on the halfway line, and can start their attack from there.
Four minutes later, Wan-Bissaka is passing infield again. Like the previous example, Rice is already on the move when the ball leaves the right-back’s foot, with Bruno Fernandes awaiting the pass.
This time, the 24-year-old has made up the ground in time to win the ball forcefully.
From there, he gets up and drives forward before touching the ball across to Eddie Nketiah, who continues the move with a pass to Gabriel Martinelli.
It ends with a massive chance missed by Kai Havertz and shows just how quickly these moments can change matches.
An almost identical situation arose in the 21st minute. Once again, Rice is on the move as Wan-Bissaka makes his pass infield.
His timing is impeccable as he wins the ball, which Havertz recovers.
In each of these moments, there was a visceral reaction from the stands. It ignited the Emirates crowd when the game seemed to hit a lull. Although Manchester United scored with their first shot, Arsenal’s influence on the game had been steadily growing and Rice dominating these moments was a key part of that.
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The England international has now played 14 games for Arsenal (including pre-season) and his first appearance at the Emirates against Monaco showed his stature. The way he carried himself in midfield in that friendly made him appear just as tall as William Saliba (6ft 4in; 192cm), despite being three inches shorter and much of that came from how he approached 50-50 situations.
In the first half, Arsenal were struggling to play out of Monaco’s pressure. Gabriel found Nketiah with a long pass and the striker hopefully headed the ball back infield. Two Monaco players went for the dropping ball but Rice made the situation his own and came out with possession to keep the Arsenal attack moving.
Another loose ball was contested by two Monaco players six minutes later just outside their box after a loose Takehiro Tomiyasu pass. Rice owned the situation again and burst through the challenges, but his shot was deflected wide.
It lifted the Emirates crowd and Nketiah’s equaliser came from the resulting corner.
At Wembley a week later, he was equally as effective out of possession. Arsenal’s defensive approach against Manchester City was slightly different to usual, but they used it again in their league meeting. Rice stepped forward to join Odegaard and Havertz (Nketiah in the league match) as a pressing trio. Havertz was tasked with pressuring the ball, while Rice and Odegaard manned City’s deeper midfielders, Rodri and Mateo Kovacic, preventing them from playing through the middle of the pitch.
Arsenal set out like this from kick-off but were looking to contain City for the first 20 minutes. They grew on the ball in the next 10 minutes, but Rice provided the drive that made them look truly confident and purposeful.
As Stefan Ortega waited for a passing option just past the half-hour mark, Rodri dropped in to give him an option. Rice was not touch tight when the Spaniard did this but was in pursuit.
He was then at a sprint when the ball left Ortega’s foot, while Rodri was relaxed, waiting for the pass.
Able to make up the ground so quickly, Rice did not win the ball but put Rodri off to the point where his pass went out for an Arsenal corner.
His recovery on Bernardo Silva in midfield was another example of how quickly he makes up ground and in the stadium, there was a definite ‘wow’ factor when both of those challenges were made. The City players did not seem to be under any pressure initially, but in reality, they were being hunted down before most people in the stadium had realised. Rice’s anticipation stood out at West Ham and it looks like that side of his game is making a huge difference at Arsenal. Aside from the ‘big’ games, these qualities were also essential to Arsenal getting their first win away to Everton since 2017, as he was just as dominant that day.
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It is still early in the season, but his 2.02 tackles won per 90 minutes this season is impressive, nearly double his figure for West Ham across last season (1.04).
How he would fare in possession was the big question. At West Ham, playing as a box-to-box midfielder, most of his passes were either short and safe or switches across the width of the pitch — a contrast from the line-breaking passes along the ground Arsenal have become accustomed to from Thomas Partey and Jorginho. Rice played as a No 6 for England at the 2022 World Cup, where he was particularly progressive in the quarter-final loss to France, but it was not a job he was doing for his club regularly.
After early stints as an advanced left-sided No 8 in pre-season, Rice has been used more as a No 6 for Arsenal before being moved back against City. He had shown personality on the ball in that deeper role. He was unlucky not to get an assist after smartly running off the back of Eberechi Eze and slipping in Nketiah away to Crystal Palace. He had no issue punching passes through traffic when Arsenal needed a route forward against Fulham either, which was one of the few refreshing elements of the game before Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira and Nketiah took the reins.
Rice’s performance for Arsenal have shown a mixture of all these attributes. Defensively, he is alert and forceful enough to provide the energy and confidence needed. In possession, he knows when to pass or drive forward to start attacks, but also plays passes with the purpose of slowing things down when the game is too frantic.
These moments should not have gone unnoticed even when Arsenal drew or lose. Unfortunately, in some positions, the good work done can be overshadowed by the result. It is still early days for Rice at Arsenal but, as the club’s August Player of the Month with three Player of the Match awards to his name now, he is setting the tone nicely.
Arteta has repeatedly said Arsenal were let down by how they managed certain ‘moments’ in games last season. Rice was the instigator for one of these moments during the match against West Ham. His anticipation allowed him to get a march on Partey, rob possession and help West Ham win a penalty, which led to Arsenal dropping more points in the title race. Arsenal still need to improve as a collective in this regard — they are still conceding needless goals, with seven in 2023 coming from the opposition team’s first shot and gifted goals away against Tottenham Hotspur and Lens.
With Rice in midfield, however, Arsenal have someone who can dominate more ‘moments’ to strengthen their resolve and change the mood of matches in an instant.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
