Sol Campbell has reacted to Declan Rice asking to come off during Arsenal’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta has told Sky Sports that, at half-time, Declan Rice spoke about discomfort in his back and asked to be taken off, with his replacement, Jorginho, making a mistake inside ten minutes to hand Tottenham and Son Heung-min a valuable goal.
Former Arsenal man Sol Campbell labelled the club-record transfer as a ‘proper’ player and he doesn’t think he would have asked to come off if he wasn’t properly injured, as he told MatchDay Extra on Premier League Productions (24/09/23 at 7:15 pm).
In the end, it did prove to be costly because Mikel Arteta had to make a change he didn’t want to.
Plus, Jorginho was caught slacking, with the on-rushing James Maddison and Son Heung-min punishing the Italian and, in the end, scoring what turned out to be the final and equalising goal of the game.
With Thomas Partey already injured, the last thing Arsenal need is for Declan Rice to possibly join him in the treatment room, especially with a clash against Manchester City around the corner.
Declan Rice injury
“I think any player who wants to come off and they are injured, then they are injured,” said Campbell. “Declan Rice, to me, he looks like an upstanding type of guy.
“He’s proper. He is going to go through all sorts of things to play for his team, so it has to be something really niggly for him to say ‘I just can’t play my best game or in danger of injuring myself even more for the next few games’.
“I think he has probably looked at it and thought ‘Look, let me just come out of this game, and hopefully, I will be alright for the next couple of games’.”
Arsenal punished against Tottenham
Arsenal took the lead on two occasions, yet they left the Emirates without the three points, as they will, no doubt, be the ones most disappointed with the dropped points.
The defence still isn’t at its best, with changes being made either through injury or tactical switches.
Mikel Arteta needs to find that consistency at the back, or else, in the long run, it will cost them.
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