Jamie Carragher praises ‘vastly underrated’ Arsenal star after Man City win

Jamie Carragher believes that Declan Rice’s talent is going underappreciated after his latest man-of-the-match display for Arsenal against Manchester City.

Rice registered two assists and had a hand in Arsenal’s opener as Mikel Arteta’s side dismantled City with a convincing 5-1 win at the Emirates.

The Gunners took the lead in the second minute but found themselves level early in the second half after Erling Haaland’s header.

However, the hosts restored their lead just moments later through Thomas Partey’s deflected strike and added a third shortly after through Myles Lewis-Skelly.

A fourth from Kai Havertz and a late goal from Ethan Nwaneri were the icing on the cake for a dominant Arsenal side who now move within six points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.

Despite a flurry of goals, it was the all-round display and assists from Rice that earned the 26-year-old the man of the match award.

The English midfielder’s now has six goal involvements in the league this campaign, although that figure is on track to be considerably lower than the 15 he managed in his maiden league campaign with the Gunners.

However, in lauding Rice’s display on Sunday, Carragher insisted that those who focus merely on his goal involements are vastly underselling the midfielder’s capabilities.

‘I almost feel sometimes that I’m one of Declan Rice’s biggest supporters because I do often find myself scratching my head when I see people criticise him and asking for more goals and assists,’ said Carragher on Sky Sports.

‘I know in the last 10-15 years we look at numbers and analyse things (differently) but I always think about when Thierry (Henry) played alongside Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit in midfield.

‘They were two of the greatest midfield players in the world at that time and two of the greatest we’ve seen in the Premier League. I don’t remember anyone talking about how many goals or assists they got.

‘They chipped in with five or six a season and for me, Declan Rice is one of those type of all-round midfielders – a bit like Roy Keane.

‘He said he’s playing in the No.8 and a bit higher, but he’s almost like a throwback midfield player that used to play in a 4-4-2 formation and could do a bit of everything.’

Carragher continued: ‘I think he’s a wonderful player, his passing range is vastly underrated – you saw that with the pass for the fifth (goal).

‘But in the build-up, getting on the ball, his power. Everything about him – his pressing early on – he’s an absolutely wonderful midfield player.’

Asked about his own performance at full-time, Rice said: ‘To get two assists is really big, and I need to add goals and assists to my game, especially if I’m going to continue playing in the No.8 position.

‘It’s been one of the best days since I’ve been at Arsenal.’

Arteta was equally impressed with his side’s performance, telling Sky Sports: ‘It is a great day for us, especially with the necessity that we had to win the game. The manner that we have done it I am really pleased.

‘We had to suffer and in moments we needed a bit of luck, and we had it. They hold you very deep and in those moments you have to suffer and as I said, there were moments that we were lucky.

‘Overall, we scored some beautiful goals and the team showed a high competitive level.’

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