Declan Rice told why he should be ‘furious’ at Mikel Arteta after Aston Villa defeat

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Richard Keys has explained why Declan Rice should be ‘furious’ with Mikel Arteta after Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat against Aston Villa.

The north London side saw their unbeaten Premier League run in 2024 finally come to an end as Arsenal were beaten late on against Villa at the Emirates Stadium, with criticism being aimed at the likes of Kai Havertz and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

With Rice starting in a midfield alongside Martin Odegaard and Havertz, the England international wasn’t able to advance up the pitch as much as the 25-year-old has done in recent weeks, with Zinchenko cutting inside and becoming the extra man.

And for Keys, this tactic is something that Rice should be fuming with.

Rice told to be ‘furious’ at Arteta after Arsenal decision vs Aston Villa

Writing on his blog, the pundit was critical of how Arteta set up his midfield against Villa, with Rice sitting in a deeper position and being unable to push higher up where the former West Ham man has impressed in recent weeks.

Keys wrote: “Also in really good form – Declan Rice, who I’ve previously said I wanted to see a lot more from. Arteta made a subtle change recently – playing Jorginho – which allowed Rice to start bossing games in the way he used to at West Ham.

“So why change it Sunday? Rice was back to being Declan Nice, tippy-tappying about allowing Zinchenko to try and run the midfield. What is Arteta’s obsession with crow-barring Zinchenko into his team? Is he really so important? If I was Rice I’d be furious.

“I’d be asking ‘why pay £100m for me – only to ask me to play second fiddle to that busy fool’? Zinchenko doesn’t affect games in the same way Rice does. Zinchenko’s inclusion also means a different role for Havertz of course. The whole balance of the team has to be different.”

Arteta will admit he made a mistake with the midfield and Zinchenko

Zinchenko has caught a lot of heat from Arsenal fans and pundits for yesterday’s game, with the former Manchester City man clearly the wrong choice at left-back as the Ukrainian allowed Villa to break through and for not being productive enough in advanced positions.

And Arteta himself should admit that he made a mistake in starting Zinchenko, with Jakub Kiwior or Takehiro Tomiyasu a more reasonable option for the left-back position against a good team like Villa where Arsenal can expect pressure.

Indeed, Zinchenko works when the game situation calls for a player of his quality, yet Arteta got it wrong yesterday, and Arsenal paid the price in a big way with City now in the driving seat for the title.