Rice on delivering in more ways than one

He’s become known around Sobha as ‘the horse’, for his incredible feats of endurance and stamina on the pitch. He’s regularly cited among his teammates as the player with the best engine - with the ability to keep going, and going, and going. But staying power is just one of the many outstanding qualities in Declan Rice’s increasingly impressive armoury of talents.

Our No. 41 really has broadened his skillset over the past year or so, to cover virtually every single demand of him on the pitch. Assists, goals, tackling and chance creation are all among his more measurable outputs, but he has influence in nearly every aspect of our game.

It's a consequence of the huge amount of work the 26-year-old has put into his game from a very young age, when he always wanted to become the all-round player we see today. “I loved every part of training when I was growing up – all of it,” he begins. “I loved whether it was left foot, right foot, dribbling, heading, five-yard passing, 10-yard, long passing - I wanted to do everything!

“And I took part in every sport too, it wasn't just football as a kid. I did everything - tennis, table tennis, rugby, cross country, I was always busy.

“I wanted to be the best at everything. I always wanted to be active and I think doing all that training as a kid has definitely helped me in the long run in football. It's allowed me to round my game up even more.”

It’s not hard to imagine the type of player Declan must have been as a kid. Tireless running, wanting to be involved in every aspect of the game, and influencing the game throughout. Not too dissimilar then, to the player we see today.

But to be able to have the physical strength to allow your body to play this way is a different matter. So have those powers of endurance always been a part of his make-up, or is it something he’s built up?

“I’ve not really had to work on it,” he reveals. “I’ve always had this natural level of fitness. I remember in school from year 7 to year 9, I was cross-country champion. We had competitions all the time at 1,500 metres at school. I went to school at Greycourt and I remember that between year 7 and year 9 I was very proud of my fitness, because I was naturally fit from all the football I was playing. So I would win most of the running competitions too.

“As the other lads progressed when we got older, that’s when I moved away from it because I was concentrating on the football, and there were people way better than me at running. “But I've always just had that in me, in my legs I suppose. That desire to run and to keep using my legs in a positive way is one of my biggest strengths.”

Declan played more than 50 times in each of his two Arsenal seasons so far (coming off the back of playing 50 times for West Ham in each of his last two seasons there) and there are definitely moments when he has to dig deep late in games, despite his natural levels of stamina. He explains that the psychological effort becomes just as important at those times.

“At times it's tough, I won’t lie, it's tough!” he grins. “If you watch me play then you might think it’s just non-stop running, but it's a mental battle out there as well. There comes a certain point in the game where it gets tough and you've got to take your breathers when you can.

“There’s this feeling in your legs that comes through, I can't describe it, it's really tough. But that's when the mentality kicks in to keep going or to know when to be a bit more conservative, not run around everywhere and choose the time to chill out a bit!”

Recovery is also a big part of his preparation, as he is able to repeat these exertions game after game. The midfielder says that it’s a delayed reaction when the hard work hits him. “It's not after the game, it's two days after the game I feel the effects,” he explains.

“The next day, I’m a bit sore, but two days after a game I can't walk! Then we might have a game the following day, or the day after. So it can be that I go into a training session the day before a game, feeling shattered, and that’s when I go again for the next one. The adrenaline is there after the game of course, and when that wears off is when you start feeling it.

“But I've always been used to having a routine of games. I think that's why I've played so many games. I wouldn't like to play just once a week, I think my rhythm wouldn't be the same if I played on a Saturday and then had to wait a week to play again. I like playing every three days, keeping my rhythm high and going into games knowing that I'm going to give it everything and play well.”

"NICO said that he’d been watching me and thinks I have the ability to take set-pieces. He said that I have the technique and the power, and that I can have different types of deliveries”

And give it everything he certainly does. Watch any Arsenal game and there isn’t one aspect of the action that Declan isn’t involved in. Corners, free-kicks, defending. Counter-attacks, launching counter-attacks, scoring in the box, outside the box, headers – it’s all in his impressive armoury.

He’s even added long-throws to that list in recent weeks. He says he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I've got a lot of belief in myself now, a lot of confidence. I've always been confident but the manager here – and Nico [Jover] the set piece coach as well – they've been putting extra pressure on me to push me even more. They’ve been demanding more because they can see that I have the talent and they think I've got even more to come, and so do I.

“I really believe in that, I feel confident going into every game, so I just need to keep working hard, stay humble and improve. I'm still so young as well which is obviously a plus.”

As for what he thinks his greatest strength is though, that can be seen between the matches, at Sobha. He says: “I think it’s my ability to listen, to take information in and then put it into practice. I think I'm good at absorbing information, understanding it and then when a task is put to me, going into that task and giving it 100%. I think that's one of my biggest strengths.”

Surely his prowess at set-piece delivery is a live example of that, and he says it’s something he’s worked particularly hard on recently. “Yes, and it has been since January 2024, when Nico first had the conversation with me. He said that he’d been watching me and thinks I have the ability to do it. He said that I have the technique and the power, and that I can have different types of deliveries.

“Then obviously as the time has gone on it’s got more global, because the deliveries have been really good. But again, I think I’ve always had that ability from dead-ball situations, it's just about believing in it and like I said, putting it into practice. Once I sat with Nico and discussed it, I was all in, I was 100% committed.

“That feeling of getting assists for my teammates, and playing a part in goals, is something I probably didn't focus on much at the start of my career. But now I'm desperate to add goals, add assists to my game and to help the team out. Knowing on a matchday that you've helped the team to a win is massive.

“At the minute I'm in a mood where I'm so confident in my football,” Dec, who has two goals and four assists so far this season adds. “My rhythm is high, I'm playing every three days, I have the confidence every time I step on the pitch. Every time I touch a ball I feel like something's going to come off.

"I have the confidence at the minute so I'm just going with the flow. I feel strong and confident. I'm not trying to analyse too much right now, I just want to stay in the zone.”

The strength of the squad is also playing a big part in his form, Dec says. Competition for places is always cited as healthy and necessary to raise the level from people outside the group, but is that how it works in practice?

“Yes, 100% it raises the level,” Dec says, “because you can't ever be comfortable in your role. You've got training sessions, you've got games, you've got people waiting to come on and impress, you've got people wanting to start. You're at Arsenal Football Club, everyone wants to start.

“Competition is healthy because it brings out the best in you and I know it certainly does for me. I want to play every game, I want to play in the biggest and best games.

“But I understand as well that I'm a team player and for certain games, you need certain individuals to play different roles. As long as we all chip in together, I think we can go in the right direction.

“Training is such a good level. We have top players and there are a lot of players coming back from injury now too. The squad's really strong. The way the training is managed is really, really good and I think you can see we're fresh going into matchdays and everyone knows their roles.”

The only thing missing now is the silverware to show for the work Dec and his teammates have been putting in over the past few years. It’s something that he is acutely aware of, and it’s inspiring him every single day in training.

"I think we all now know it. We can feel it off the supporters, we can see it in ourselves. I think the manager deserves it more than anyone because the points tally we've racked up the last three years, the way we've played, the way we've played against big teams, the way we've played in Europe.

“The only thing missing to stop people talking is to win a trophy because we're doing everything else right. We're young players who want to win stuff, we want this club to succeed, so we're going to do everything we can.”