Mikel Arteta has explained his decision to play Declan Rice in an attacking midfield role in the pre-season clash with Monaco.
The midfielder recently joined Arsenal in a British record deal, signing a five year deal with an option for a sixth year to become one of the Gunners’ three major signings of the summer – along with Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz.
Rice missed the pre-season win over Barcelona due to a knock but was back for his Emirates Stadium debut on Wednesday, playing an hour of the Gunners’ 1-1 draw with Monaco in the Emirates Cup.
Surprisingly, Rice was utilised in a role typically played by Martin Odegaard during the game against Monaco by Arteta, and explaining the decision to the press after the game the manager said that Rice’s versatility will be key for Arsenal moving forward.
“He played more advanced today, he played more as an attacking midfielder today, it was the first time that he’s played there. He’s on the journey to get back to his best and adapt to the team,” the boss commented.
“He has the versatility to play different roles and it’s something that we want to do to maximise the quality of other players who have the ability to play together. We will use him in different positions.”
Discussing his team’s performance in general on Wednesday, Arteta insisted that the game was a “good test” for his players.
“Yes, very good [test],” he said. “Especially for a lot that haven’t had many minutes in pre-season and for the new players to play for the first time at Emirates Stadium. It was special, you could feel the atmosphere and how excited the fans were. In terms of the game, we struggled a little bit to dominate completely and have the game that we want, we had much better periods in the second half.
“I think we were still a bit leggy and jet legged from when we came, we trained really hard the last three days to be fair and we wanted that task for us, when we are not fresh enough to play, how can we compete. So, it was a good test for us and we’re happy with the outcome.”
READ THE LATEST ARSENAL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
