Arsenal struggled to create enough chances to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners were held to a disappointing draw at the Theatre of Dreams, with Declan Rice’s late strike salvaging Mikel Arteta’s side a draw.
While the North Londoners dominated possession for large periods, they lacked incision in their forward play, finding it difficult to cut United open with the attacking players at their disposal.
Rice was the shining light for Arsenal on the day, single-handedly carrying them to a draw with his stunning goal and complete all-around display.
Wayne Rooney says Declan Rice has too much responsibility in Arsenal’s system
Mikel Merino saved the day for Arsenal against Leicester City back in February, scoring two goals off the bench as a number nine.
Arteta has since stuck by this ploy, starting the Spaniard as a striker in each of the last four matches.
The former Real Sociedad man hasn’t been able to get the quality or quantity of chances you’d expect from a centre-forward, meaning the onus has been on Rice to make late darts into the box to support the Euro 2024 winner.
The Englishman did so effectively yesterday, finding the back of the net superbly with 16 minutes to play.
However, former United striker and now pundit Wayne Rooney has questioned the sustainability of this system, claiming Rice has to do too much.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2, he said: “A proper number nine – a forward who has played there his whole life – brings something different to any team.
“I am talking about that natural goalscoring instinct, which a player who is trying to learn the position probably doesn’t have.
“A midfielder playing forward like Merino can get hold of the ball and bring others into play, but what a goalscorer brings is that selfishness of wanting to be in the penalty area to finish chances.
“As we saw on Sunday, Rice was trying to help Arsenal to fill that position, as the player who was always making forward runs and arriving in the box. He did really well in that advanced role, but he cannot always be there.”
Declan Rice’s statistics vs Manchester United
Looking at the data, Rooney certainly has a point about Rice.
The 26-year-old midfield maestro was everywhere, managing 83 touches across the 90 minutes for the Gunners.
Rice was poor in Arsenal’s defeat to West Ham last month, but has been excellent in almost every other game for the North Londoners since the turn of the year, and Sunday was one of his standout showings so far.
| Rice’s Statistics vs Manchester United | |
| Minutes Played | 90 |
| Goals | 1 |
| Shots | 2 |
| Accurate Passes | 62/68 (91%) |
| Touches in Opposition Box | 6 |
| Passes into the Final Third | 15 |
| Tackles and Interceptions | 2 |
| Recoveries | 7 |
Not only making seven ball recoveries and thus single-handedly preventing United transitions on numerous occasions, he was also essential to Arsenal’s ball progression.
Completing 15 passes into the final third, Rice got the Gunners up the pitch, whilst retaining possession impressively.
However, if Arteta can find another central midfielder who can complement the all-action star, and take some of the offensive burden off of his shoulders, then they’ll be ready to conquer the league.
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