‘Everybody thought’… Ian Wright says people were wrong about two Arsenal players

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Ian Wright has noted how Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has used two players differently than most people would have thought.

Arsenal are aiming to beat Liverpool and Manchester City to the Premier League title this season.

A number of players are in form for Arsenal at the moment, and two of them are Declan Rice and Kai Havertz.

Rice, who joined Arsenal from West Ham United in the summer of 2023, is a regular in the starting lineup and has transformed the Gunners.

Havertz struggled in the opening months of the season following his move from Chelsea, but the Germany international is flourishing in the false nine role and is scoring important goals, like the one against Brentford in the London derby this past weekend.

Ian Wright on Arsenal duo Declan Rice and Kai Havertz

Arsenal legend Ian Wright has noted that while people expected Havertz to play as the number 8 when he joined Arsenal, manager Mikel Arteta is actually using Rice in that role and is allowing him to go forward rather than just sit in the middle of the park.

Wright told Sky Sports about Rice: “I really like Rice in that position. It’s almost like when Tomas Soucek used to be holding at West Ham and Rice was able to push up on that left side.

“Everybody thought it was Kai Havertz that was coming into to play as the No 8, but it’s Declan Rice that Arteta wanted to do that.

“Obviously when Jorginho wasn’t in the side, Declan had to play the No 6 at times and played it very well. But this is obviously what his main strengths are, getting into the box and scoring goals. We know he’s capable of doing it, we saw him doing it at West Ham.”

When asked about the importance of Jorginho, Wright added: “Thomas Partey and Jorginho would have been playing the No 6, but they weren’t available so Declan had to play there and we couldn’t see this side to his game.

 “When you have someone like Jorginho, who can control a game, and then plays it into Martin Odegaard who again can control a game, it gives Declan the capability to make those runs and get into the box and score goals.”

My View: Credit to Mikel Arteta for Arsenal ‘success’

Yes, I know that Arsenal have not won the Premier League title yet this season. And, the Gunners may not get the job in the end, but I have to say that we should all praise Mikel Arteta for the work that he has done with the team.

Arsenal challenged Manchester City for the Premier League title until the final weeks of last season.

The Gunners have simply built on that this season and are a force to be reckoned with again.

It takes a lot for a manager to get his players up after disappointment, and it seems that Arteta has been able to motivate his Arsenal team to go again.