Bringing Rice to the Boil

In the 2021-22 season at West Ham, Declan Rice played in a midfield double pivot with Tomas Soucek. During that season, Rice was the deeper of the two players. He scored one goal and managed four assists in the Premier League during that season. Obviously, his main role in David Moyes’ West Ham team was in West Ham’s half. In that same season, Soucek helped himself to five goals and an assist as the more advanced member of that partnership.

In the 2022-23 season, Moyes swapped the players around. He gave Rice greater freedom to play from box to box, while Soucek was asked to sit deeper. In 2022-23, Rice’s goal contribution stats switched, he scored four goals and got one assist. Soucek got two goals and three assists but questions began to abound over Soucek’s form during that season. During an away defeat at Crystal Palace, Soucek’s substitution was greeted with ironic cheers by travelling Irons fans.

The point here is that Rice was equally comfortable in the more advanced role and the more defensive role but Soucek was only really comfortable in one of those roles. Once Rice left for Arsenal, Soucek’s attacking touch returned with seven goals and two assists once he returned to his more advanced position.

Had Rice stayed at West Ham- thankfully he opted to join Arsenal- I imagine West Ham would have come to the conclusion that they should ‘sit’ Rice and allow Soucek to play in the box-to-box role. What is interesting is that Rice started his Arsenal career as the deeper midfielder, Kai Havertz had been bought to play in the ‘left eight’ role vacated by Granit Xhaka.

Gabriel Jesus’ ongoing injury issues and the return to fitness of Thomas Partey saw a reshuffle in early 2024. Rice moved into the left eight role, Havertz to the centre-forward position with Partey at the base of the midfield structure. Rice produced seven Premier League goals and eight assists last season, which represented a very healthy return for a box-to-box midfielder.

It led me to write a possibly premature column during the summer hailing Rice as the heir apparent to Granit Xhaka. It might not have been the initial plan but it seemed to me that Arteta was rolling with the punches and felt Havertz at centre-forward and Rice as the left eight was the way to go. Arteta has shown a penchant for buying adaptable players who can play in a multitude of roles- part of the attraction of buying Rice and Havertz in the first place.

Ditto Ben White, of course. It probably wasn’t the plan that he would become Arsenal’s first choice right-back but his ability to play the position would clearly have been factored into his signing. The beauty of versatile players is not only that it can get you out of a tight spot when injuries bite it can actually enable the coach to change the plan altogether if that is the way the wind blows.

However, since penning that summer missive about Rice being a box-to-box midfielder, my thinking has changed a little. At that point, I felt purchasing a long-term replacement for Partey and Jorginho was likely on the cards. Instead, Arsenal bought Mikel Merino whose attributes I would pitch squarely between Granit Xhaka and Kai Havertz. Ethan Nwaneri is also coming up very quickly and in a year or two, he may well be in a position where it is impossible not to play him regularly.

Meanwhile, Partey and Jorginho’s current contracts expire in the summer of 2025. It seems unlikely that Jorginho’s terms will be extended given his limited playing time. Very stern questions should be asked if Partey’s deal is extended. Medium term, Arsenal need a six more than they need an eight and the activity of the most recent transfer window strongly suggests that Rice’s future is at the base of the Arsenal midfield.

Arteta seems to have little appetite to play without Thomas Partey at the moment who is having what is known in the NFL as ‘the contract year.’ It could be that we don’t really need to worry too much whether Rice is a six or an eight and we can just allow him to flit between the roles as necessary. However, the future planning of the squad seems to pitch him into one of those possibilities far more than the other.

I think what is clear too is that Rice requires some development for either role. Last season, his seven goals represented a very respectable return for a box-to-box player. However, this season, riddled by a broken toe and an exhausting 2023-24, he has yet to score a Premier League or Champions League goal and doesn’t have an open play assist in either competition.

Arsenal would certainly want a better return from a number 8 than that. My feeling on Rice is that he is a ‘behind the ball’ player, he sees danger, he runs to snuff it out, he keeps it simple, maybe he takes the ball for a bit of a jog away from danger. On Tuesday night in Lisbon, he fluffed a few attacking opportunities in the penalty area because I don’t think his attacking instincts are quite as keen.

I think he is better when he is behind the ball and alert to counters and loose balls. Many supporters think that his progressive passing is not on the same level as Partey and Jorginho, which makes playing him at the base of midfield problematic. For England during the summer, we certainly saw his influence suffer due to England’s lack of ball playing midfielders to partner him with.

Kalvin Phillips, a distinctly average player in truth, was adequate ballast for Rice in the England midfield for a few years, as was Jordan Henderson before him. Rice doesn’t need to play next to prime Xabi Alonso or Pirlo, just a decent passer will suffice. That England have relied on Jordan Henderson, then Kalvin Phillips and currently don’t have anyone to take on that relatively modest mantle tells a story.

Scott Willis wrote a really good piece last month debunking some myths around Rice’s passing. I still think it is certainly a development area, to receive the ball more smoothly on the half turn and to distribute with a little more silk and disguise. Either way, Arsenal invested over £100m on Rice and he has done a fine job across two positions.

However, a decision was made on Havertz that he be the team’s striker. A decision was made that Ben White was the team’s right-back. Bukayo Saka hasn’t played on the left wing for Arsenal for over four years. Sooner or later, your ‘franchise’ players stop being movable jigsaw pieces and become firm pillars. Arteta’s transfer strategy shows you that, at some point, he is probably going to entrust the six position to Declan Rice. How he manages that transition will be very interesting to witness.

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