Mikel Arteta, Arsenal's manager, addressed criticism for keeping Declan Rice on the pitch for the full 90 minutes in the Champions League match against Slavia. The London side won 2-1, but struggled in the second half.
Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres scored before the break, but after Viktor Novak's goal, the Czech team almost equalised. Former Arsenal player Karen Carney expressed concern over Rice's fitness on TNT Sports.
In my opinion, Declan Rice is undoubtedly the best midfielder in the country.
When he gets tired and loses his strength, Arsenal becomes a completely different team. The same happens when he is not on the pitch.
In the second half, he looked completely exhausted. That’s when, in my opinion, Arsenal starts to play differently and loses some control over the game.
It worries me a bit because Rice is a magnificent player, but when he runs out of energy, the team, I think, starts to fall apart.
However, Arteta disagreed with the criticism and explained his decision not to substitute the midfielder.
The match demanded it, and he coped.
He got a rest in the match against Fleetwood Town, so he had a good week to recover before facing Liverpool.
This is only his second match of the week, not the fifth. We expect our players to be able to handle such a load. I think he had some very good moments throughout the match.
Former Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman believes that Arsenal's issues are also linked to a lack of attacking players.
They don’t have enough attackers, do they? They just bring on extra midfielders and then push them into attacking positions. As a result, the team loses a bit of its structure. That’s what I notice.
On the pitch were Rice, Subimendi, Merino, and Odegaard, but they were still running around, losing the ball and playing chaotically.
Even the best teams sometimes lose their heads in European matches. It shows that you need to maintain concentration all the time. But the main thing is they got the result. After a tough match against Liverpool, they came to Prague and took three points. If they beat Hull City this weekend, everyone will forget how difficult this match was.
