Some Arsenal fans have turned on Declan Rice after hearing what he said during his post-match interview following Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
Arsenal left Old Trafford with just one point as they trail Premier League leaders Liverpool by 15 points, with Mikel Arteta refusing to answer a question about the gap at the top.
Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring after converting a stunning free-kick, with the distance of Arsenal’s wall the main talking point from his strike.
Rice levelled proceedings in the 74th minute after sweeping home a tidy finish.
After the game, Rice spoke to Sky Sports and shared his views on the result.
He bemoaned the lack of ‘cutting edge’ in the first-half and called his side ‘naive’ for almost allowing Man United to score a late winner.
“I think in the first half, we had some beautiful bits of play, we just didn’t have that clinical cutting edge. Second half, we’ve done things that we’ve not done all season, we were very naive in the last 10 minutes and could easily have handed it to Man United,” he explained.
“It was a bit of stupidity from us, but to get back in the game and to keep pushing, we had another chance with Martinelli & it was a real end-to-end game – it was probably a fair point in the end.”
The Gunners midfielder also highlighted Man United’s low block as he referenced Arsenal’s 7-1 victory over PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.
“We scored seven in midweek and that wasn’t any luck, PSV had not lost at home for two and a half years, we were full throttle,” he added. “Today, we tried with the same intention, same threat, but Man United, credit to them, sat in a low block and defended well.
“Sometimes, it takes a full 90 minutes to break down that low block. We only managed to get one [goal], we did have a couple of half chances, but it wasn’t enough creativity to get us over the line.”
Despite Rice’s fascinating insight, some Arsenal fans on social media slammed his interview but others defended his post-match comments.
One X user wrote: “Rice coming out with nonsense in his interview again. Mate, we were lucky to not LOSE that game. This is where Declan loses me as a fan. Great strike but a proper teacher’s pet.”
A second claimed: “Rice is a nice guy and nice guys finish last. We need total c**ts in midfield to win titles.”
A third, however, argued: “Really refreshing interview from Rice, you can see the frustration. We’re letting him down ibr.”
Another praised his post-match interview: “Would love to see Declan Rice as captain of Arsenal one day. Proper leader.”
Roy Keane, who was far from impressed by Arsenal’s performance against Man United, mentioned Rice’s interview when assessing Arsenal’s poor mindset as he questioned their approach.
“Liverpool won’t be thinking ‘this team are going to put us under pressure’… Liverpool will be looking at them going ‘I think Arsenal have almost given up the title chase… the winner mentality has ended’,” he exclaimed.
“It felt like that watching! I’m thinking ‘come on Arsenal where is it?’ and all the issues with a striker of course, but I still thought there’d be a mentality of ‘we’ll still get the job done and find a way to win’.
“If anything it was the opposite… if anything United found a way and at the end we were sat there thinking United are going to win this and they probably should have at the end.”
