Declan Rice says he has a ‘great understanding’ with William Saliba and Gabriel (Stadium Astro)
Declan Rice believes Arsenal would have been ‘in a bit of trouble’ without Gabriel Magalhaes this season.
Mikel Arteta’s side suffered disappointment on the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday as Manchester City were crowned champions for the fourth successive campaign with their 3-1 win over West Ham at the Etihad Stadium.
Arsenal beat Everton in their final game but ended up two points behind City in the Premier League table.
A large part of Arsenal’s title challenge was built on a solid defensive partnership between Gabriel and William Saliba, who together helped the team keep 16 clean sheets in the league this season.
And Rice believes Gabriel should be getting just as much credit as Saliba for Arsenal’s defensive resilience.
‘Do you know what, obviously there was a lot of talk about Saliba before I came here,’ Rice told Stadium Astro.
Declan Rice claims he did not hear much hype around Gabriel when he first joined Arsenal (Getty)
‘There was always talk about Saliba, no one ever really spoke about Gabriel.
‘Honestly, that guy, without him as well we’d be in a bit of trouble.
‘Them two together have built up that partnership, 16 clean sheets. It’s just such a good partnership, for me to play in front of them as well, we have a great understanding, we train on it every day, we’re all still really young and I feel we’re going to keep getting better as well.’
Declan Rice is adamant that Arsenal are capable of winning the Premier League title next season (AFP via Getty)
Rice ended his first Premier League campaign at Arsenal with seven goals and eight assists in the league and insists he is capable of playing in a more advanced midfield role under Arteta next season.
‘I think in my head I’ve always set myself as an out-and-out holding midfielder,’ Rice said.
But I’ve always known in my head I have the ability to do more, to score goals, to provide goals.
‘This year my role has changed quite a bit throughout the season. I’ve really enjoyed playing No.8, I feel like against teams like Everton who sit in low blocks maybe I’m better playing No.6 where I can dictate.
‘But when teams open up I really get excited because I can open up my legs and drive with the ball.
‘I think the main thing is to be adaptable and whatever the manager wants I can try to help out.’
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Asked if Arsenal will bounce back stronger next season, Rice said: ‘Yeah, we have to be.
‘I just said to some of the boys then that feeling that we have now in our stomach, we need to live with that all summer and come back next year and know what that feeling’s like today of losing and take it into the next 38 games next year because we’re capable of winning it.
‘This year we’ve come up short again, it’s just about adding that little bit more and I’m sure we can get it over the line.’
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