Arteta Showers Praise On Rice’s ‘All-Round Play, Leadership And Amount Of…’ Following Triumphant Trip To Everton

Declan Rice. (X)

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta lauded the impact and consistency of star midfielder Declan Rice as the Gunners go in quest of the Premier League title to end their two-decade wait for the English top-flight crown.

Arsenal reclaimed the top spot in the league, after former champions Manchester City briefly pulled ahead of the Gunners with their win over West Ham earlier in the day, with a 1-0 win at Everton as Viktor Gyokeres netted the solitary strike.

Arteta noted the importance of Rice in the middle of the park and touched up on the various traits he brings to the table, including his ability to lead.

“Declan Rice has been unbelievable again. His all-round play, his leadership on the pitch, the amount of balls that he regained as well that allowed us to run,” the Spaniard said.

“He has been incredibly consistent this year again and what a massive player he is for us,” Arteta added.

Arteta, who has helped the Lonon-based side amass 39 points in 17 outings this season, expressed that his players should have scored more goals.

“The margin should have been bigger. We have to learn while we are winning,” said Arteta.

“The performances and consistency of the team give me belief and confidence,” he added.

“That is very difficult to achieve in this league, and it means the team is consistently performing well,” the Gunners boss noted.

Everton struggled to score without the injured Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye, who is away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

David Moyes once again lamented the absence of a striker as they failed to score despite a determined performance.

“You can play as well as you like and do good things, but we need to score some goals,” said Moyes.

“We haven’t had goals in the last two games, which is what’s missing really,” the former Manchester United manager said.

“We did a lot of things right, the players showed effort and spirit. Everything you’d want them to do, they did tonight. It was just a bit of quality or trying to trouble Arsenal a bit more,” he added.