Arsenal legend Thierry Henry believes Arteta used Declan Rice in a ‘weird’ role against Sevilla in the Champions League last night.The Gunners picked up an impressive 2-1 win over the Spanish side. Goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus sealed the win. However, Henry was more focused on Rice in his analysis on CBS Sports.
Henry says Arteta used Rice in a weird role:
Declan Rice started as a left-sided number eight for Arsenal last night. Whereas, Mikel Arteta used Jorginho to play in the defensive midfield role.The England international had a terrific game. He was all over the pitch, won the midfield battle comfortably. Moreover, every time he charged forward with the ball, he looked more dangerous than ever.
A deeper analysis of Rice’s game out of possession is very interesting. Thierry Henry, who is France’s U21s boss now, shared with the world how a manager looks at the game. He noticed how Rice was actually deep in his own half during Arsenal’s build-up play, but surprisingly, he was very high up the pitch to press Sevilla when the Gunners didn’t have the ball. Henry felt that role was a bit ‘weird’ last night.
What Henry said:
He said about Rice on CBS Sports:
“He had a weird role on the night Declan Rice as he was low to build up and high to press. We talk about an offensive balance and you have a 2-3-5 with Ben White on the side. And the two holding as Jorginho and Declan Rice but there is something very interesting.
“When White goes, Saka has to stay and keep the shape of that offensive balance which Sevilla didn’t deal with. Saka keeps the structure of the team, Odegaard comes but he will never go high unless they switch. “Off the ball, he [Rice] plays as a 10 because he has an eye on their holding midfielder, they wanted to make sure the two holding were never going to be on the ball.”
Jamie Carragher then jumped in and said:
“He is the centre forward, forget he is Declan Rice. So when you talk about a complete midfield player, he is the highest person to press and the deepest player to build.”
Henry replied: “That’s why Mikel Arteta went to get him because he can do so much for you, off the ball and on the ball.”
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