“Going to be hard” : Paul Merson Expresses Concerns About 24-year-old Arsenal Player’s Potential Struggles This Season
Declan Rice has joined Arsenal for a British-record fee of £105 million, and the footballing world awaits with bated breath to see how the midfielder performs in the Premier League.
This transfer has been years in the making; we’ve been discussing Rice’s move to one of the top six clubs since the turn of the century, and now it’s Rice’s turn to demonstrate what he’s made of.
Many are anticipating Rice’s success at Arsenal, but Paul Merson is not particularly optimistic about the 24-year-old’s prospects.
Merson predicted in his column for SportsKeeda that Rice would struggle at Arsenal due to the club’s front-foot possession style, which is very different from David Moyes’ style at West Ham.
Rice might have difficulty.
Merson provided his opinion on Arsenal’s most recent recruit.
“I think it’s going to be hard for Declan Rice to come into his own at Arsenal. When you play at West Ham, you haven’t got the ball much. When you do, you keep possession to give your defence a breather. When Arsenal win the ball back, they get forward and don’t mess about,” Merson stated.
Not a simple task
Rice is a very gifted footballer, but as with any player, a manager can make or break a player’s performance.
At West Ham, Rice played in a system in which he wasn’t required to do a great deal of short passing or rapid interplay, but at Arsenal, that will be his bread and butter.
Rice has never played under a manager like Arteta, so this could be a bit of a culture change for the Englishman. The same is true for Gareth Southgate and England.
Rice may not get off to the fast start that many anticipate.
“Going to be hard” : Paul Merson Expresses Concerns About 24-year-old Arsenal Player’s Potential Struggles This Season
