Arteta speaks on Rice’s performance vs Man Utd

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has applauded the club’s summer signing and midfielder Declan Rice for his impressive form vs Man Utd on Sunday.

Rice scored his debut goal for the Gunners in their 3-1 win over the Red Devils.

In a post-match statement, Arteta when asked about Rice’s display praised the midfidler’s all-around performance in the number six role.

According to Arteta, the former West Ham United captain has struck a fine balance between being “demanding” and having “banter” with his teammates.

“I think a tremendous performance. When you look at a holding midfielder and how he needs to dominate his area and the pressing that is needed,” arsenal.com quotes Arteta as saying.

“How he breaks up play, how he glues the team together in many moments when it was stretching a little bit. He was really dominant and then produced a magic moment to win the game, so I’m really happy with him.

He’s a great kid. I think he’s got a good mixture between being extremely demanding with everybody and himself and then a bit of banter as well. Being around the boys and the staff in a really humble way, I think he’s fitted in brilliantly.

“When you see the technical ability that he has and how executed it in this moment, his range when he’s shooting from range, his accuracy, the power that he generates with no space, with both legs, he can do it with both feet. He’s got the timing to arrive in the box, the position will determine a lot with how many goals he will score because at the end it’s about how consistent you are arriving there.”