Thierry Henry explains why the’strange’ position that Declan Rice played for Arsenal was so important to Sevilla’s triumph.
Thierry Henry heaps admiration on Declan Rice while highlighting the significant role that Rice played in Arsenal’s triumph over Sevilla in the Champions League.
The position that Declan Rice played in during Arsenal’s victory over Sevilla in the Champions League was referred to as “weird” by Thierry Henry, who lauded the player’s overall performance. After defeating Sevilla 2-1 on the road in Spain, the Gunners secured their second victory in the European competition.
The goals scored by Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus each side of halftime gave Arsenal the lead. However, a header scored by Nemanja Gudelj required Arsenal to make a gallant effort to defend their box for the last 30 minutes of the match. Rice’s excellent defensive play in the second quarter helped Arteta’s squad earn six points in Champions League Group B. Rice had many interceptions in the second quarter.
Henry was quick to praise Rice on CBS Sports Golazo, but not for his defensive responsibilities; rather, he praised Rice for his crucial role in assisting the Gunners in constructing assaults and winning possession high up on the pitch.
The comment was made by a player who had previously played for Arsenal. “We were wondering where Declan Rice was going to play, and it was pretty easy to say that on the ball when they were low, they were always trying to free him in the build up to try and find,” the player said. “With Tomiyasu, you’d think he’d do what Zinchenko normally does, but they didn’t want him on the ball, so they went after this guy [Rice] behind Dodi Lukebakio, which they did,” the commentator said. “They went after this guy [Rice] behind Dodi Lukebakio, which they did.”
Declan Rice played an odd role throughout the evening due to the fact that he was positioned low to build up and high to push. We are having a discussion about the attacking balance, and your formation is a 2-3-5 with Ben White on the flank and two holding players in the form of Jorginho and Declan Rice; nonetheless, there is an extremely interesting development taking place. Saka is required to remain after White departs in order to keep the attacking balance that Sevilla neglected to address.
The framework of the team is maintained by Saka; Odegaard arrives, but he will never get high unless they swap. Rice plays as a 10 when his team is not in possession of the ball in order to keep an eye on the opposing team’s holding midfielder. His team’s goal was to ensure that both of their holding midfielders never had possession of the ball.
He explained that “[Sergio] Ramos has it, and Declan Rice goes onto Soumare, and then Odegaard goes, and now you see that the job of Jorginho and Rice was to make sure that those two guys didn’t get the ball inside.” That way, they don’t have to play inside, and the ball can be brought back.”
Jamie Carragher then steps in to clarify what Rice was doing at both ends of the pitch after Rice’s actions have been called into question. Carragher said, “He is the center forward, forget about Declan Rice,” referring to the other player. Therefore, “when you talk about a complete midfield player,” you should refer to him as the guy who presses the highest and the player who builds the deepest. He then answered by saying, “That’s why Mikel Arteta went to get him because he can do so much for you, both off the ball and on the ball.”
Rice’s move to a deeper position helped Arsenal in their match against Chelsea, but it was clear that Arteta wanted him to be in a higher position to press Sevilla’s attempt to play out from the back. Therefore, rather than having a single primary purpose, the 24-year-old was given two, and he was the primary reason that Arsenal were able to dominate the majority of the game and go two goals ahead before his role changed to blocking out the center passing lanes in the final parts of the match, which he did brilliantly.
