Gary Lineker and Micah Richards say Arsenal have a player whose intelligence is ‘through the roof’

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Gary Lineker and Micah Richards came to the same conclusion about one Arsenal player during the Gunners’ win over Newcastle United.

Mikel Arteta’s side left it late at St James’ Park, trailing up to the 84th minute before scoring an equaliser and a winner.

Mikel Merino found the net five minutes before stoppage time, with Gabriel Magalhaes scoring the match-winner in the 96th minute to send the away end into pandemonium.

Arsenal channelled the frustration caused by critics and took three points back to North London, with several players shining to secure the win.

Micah Richards loved what he saw from Jurrien Timber during the contest, and the pundit felt a similar way about Declan Rice.

• READ MORE: Winners and losers from Arsenal’s clash with Newcastle United including Gabriel Magalhaes and Cristhian Mosquera

Declan Rice’s performance against Newcastle praised by Micah Richards and Gary Lineker

Arsenal fans actually criticised Rice after the Gunners’ draw against Manchester City on matchday five.

The midfielder collected some unwanted feedback, with Paul Scholes accusing Rice of not playing to his full potential.

Against Newcastle, the midfielder responded to criticism in the best way possible; however, his performance was still questioned.

During the game, Gary Neville wasn’t satisfied with Rice playing so deep, but when speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Richards gave an opposing view.

“I know we keep talking about Declan Rice, but what I love about Declan Rice is he manages the game ever so well,” Richards began.

“In commentary, Gary Neville was saying ‘we want to see more from him’, but it was the timing of when he needed to go forward, when he needed to sit in, the right moments, his delivery.”

Gary Lineker then echoed what Richards had to say, lauding Rice’s intelligence to alter his positioning at certain moments.

“What about that moment when he came back and they were going through man-on-man to goal, and somehow, he got back, he’s got legs and intelligence.”

Responding to Lineker’s praise, Richards then doubled down on what he thinks about how Rice reads the game.

“His game intelligence is just through the roof,” the pundit said.

In Neville’s eyes, Rice was playing too deep; however, to Lineker and Richards, the £105m signing was doing all the right things at the right moments.  

Rice ran the show against Newcastle

If there was one player who truly dictated the contest, it was Rice, who recorded 104 touches of the ball in 90 minutes.

When glancing at Rice’s Sofascore heatmap from the game, it’s evident that the Englishman was absolutely everywhere. 

The 26-year-old’s numbers go on to suggest that, while being everywhere, he was consistently in the right places at the right times.

Rice contributed going forward with an assist, three key passes and three crosses, while defensively, he won 77% of his duels.

It was a truly superb showing from Rice, who so often proves why Arsenal spent as much as they did to sign him back in 2023.