Yes, he’s not set the world on fire just yet, but six points from two games is exactly what the Gunners will have wanted.
Rice has been as steady as they come in these first two games, and he’s earned a fair few plaudits for his showing against Crystal Palace.
Speaking on The Stand with Eamon Dunphy, Liam Brady has been full of praise for Rice after his performance against the Eagles, claiming that he’s a hugely reliable player who never goes missing, stating that he’s much more reliable than Granit Xhaka – the player he has replaced in this Arsenal side.
Reliable Rice
Brady gave his verdict on the midfielder.
“He cost a lot of money, but he’s a hugely reliable player, he never goes missing. Maybe he falls a bit short in running the game, but his passing last night was good over 30/40 yards he was switching play. You say about him not scoring goals, but he started scoring goals towards the end for West Ham, and he nearly scored in the first match at home. I think he’s only going to get better, he’s only young. What I’m saying is he’s hugely reliable and much moreso than Xhaka who we had in midfield last year. I think he’ll be a massive asset for Odegaard and Partey and the players alongside him,” Brady said.
Mikel Arteta
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Remains to be seen
Look, we like Declan Rice as a player as much as the next person, but his reliability at Arsenal is yet to truly be tested.
With all due respect, games against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest aren’t exactly the biggest matches.
The idea of ‘never going missing’ can only be quantified if you consistently do it in the biggest games against the best times, but Rice is yet to play in a single fixture of this calibre for Arsenal.
We will learn a lot about Rice as the season goes on, but to say that he’s this unflappable incredibly reliable midfielder after just two games is a bit premature.
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