Declan Rice has been one of Arsenal’s most important players since his club-record move from West Ham United.
The England international was already among the best midfielders in the Premier League under David Moyes, but he has gone to a whole new level since he became a Gunner.
Rice has been converted into a box-to-box midfielder by Mikel Arteta, and he has shown that he can influence games in multiple ways, both defensively and going forward.
Gabriel Jesus probably knew that Rice was capable of this, which is why he gave him some important advice on his very first day at Arsenal – shoot!
🤔 Is Declan Rice a number six or a number eight?
Gabriel Jesus’ first advice to Declan Rice was to shoot more from distance
Declan Rice is best known for his ability to dominate the midfield and control the game for Arsenal.
The midfielder did that well for West Ham during his time there, and his performances for England have been outstanding too.
However, Rice has shown that there is more to his game than just being an orthodox midfielder. He can score goals as well.
Jesus wanted to see that from Arsenal’s £105 million signing, which is why he instructed him to shoot more on his very first day as a Gunner.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel, Jesus said: “He’s the type of player who can do everything.
“When he arrived at the club, I said to him: ‘Just do a favour for me. Every time you get an opportunity, shoot from outside the box, because this can decide the game or the direction of the game.’
“If you shoot from a long distance and score a goal when the game is 0-0, you open the game. I had this situation with Kompany. It’s not the same quality of shooting, but he just tried to shoot, scored, 1-0 against Leicester, and we won the league.
“So I said that to him (Rice), because his quality to shoot is amazing.
“But he’s the type of player who can do everything. Like you look and then say, “Oh, this guy can defend. This guy can create. This guy can shoot. He’s an amazing player.”
Fill the blanks: The year is 2030 and Declan Rice is now worth £____.
Declan Rice must listen to Gabriel Jesus’ advice more
Rice already offers a lot to Arsenal, but adding more goals from distance would take him to another level and also help the Gunners.
Arteta’s side often come up against low blocks that make it very hard for them to score from inside the box. There is hardly any space in such games.
In such situations, shooting from outside the box can change the game, and Rice definitely has the ability to do that.
For that reason, we think the Arsenal number 41 should listen to Jesus and start shooting more often from distance.
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