Before Declan Rice joined The Arsenal, he was a top, top midfielder.
It is testament to both Rice and Mikel Arteta that in their short time working together, Rice has quickly progressed and is now a world class performer.
Rice always had the natural attributes to become one of the best central midfielders in world football.
A powerful individual, he always had great technique for someone in his position. He is now adding improved tactical and positional awareness to his armoury.
Rice was always going to be limited at a club like West Ham.
Playing in an average team, with average coaching and surrounded by average coaches, his development had stalled. He was not being pushed on or off the pitch by team mates or manager. A big fish in a very small pond.
The demands of playing at Arsenal are so much greater than a club like West Ham. He can no longer coast through games and still be praised for being the best player on the team.
Rice has spoken recently about how much he has learned from Jorginho. He is also competing in his spot with Thomas Partey.
Like Rice, Partey is also one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. And it was only a couple of years ago that Jorginho was considered one of the best footballers on the planet – the Italian-Brazilian is one of footballs great brains and will become a top manager.
Rice has learned more in a couple of months from Jorginho and Partey than in had playing alongside Mark Noble for over half a decade.
You can see Rice’s development through his positional awareness.
At Arsenal, he now plus as the sole defensive midfielder, a role he was unable to undertake at West Ham where he was often part of a midfield two.
Rice is now developing a 360 degree view of the pitch. He is aware of what is happening behind him, ahead of him and to both sides. Most of the time at West Ham he only had to be concerned about what was happening in front of him as he played in a team the just looked to defend the box.
It is incredible his growth in such a short space of time. He clearly has the hunger and desire to learn, to get even better. At an elite club like Arsenal, he will only continue growing.
Keenos
Rice is finally fulfilling the potential he showed at a young age. Under Arteta, he will only get better.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Rice was always a certainty to work out, he`s just a top top player with an unbelievable attitude. We`re actually a little bit over reliant on him at the moment. Havertz – who I think will end up a good player for The Arse – is still trying to understand what his role in the team is. He keeps getting caught too far ahead of the ball when we lose it and emptying the midfield. We`re lucky that Rice can do the job of two men and quickly sniffs out danger. If he was playing with Xhaka I think we`d be looking even better. That`s not a criticism of Havertz either, I`m with you, I think he has the potential to add a new dimension to our game its just going to take a bit of time.
I`ll finish by agreeing with your comments about Jorginho, he`s a certainty to go on and become a manager down the line. I`m not blowing my own trumpet here but the last Arsenal player that I said that about is our current manager. I knew Arteta would one day make a good manager – never realised how good – and I see Jorginho doing the same. I think that is one of the reasons he was happy to stay at The Arse for another year. He might not get as many minutes as he`d like but he probably thinks that the knowledge he gaining will be worth it further down the line.
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Come on Gooners, how deluded are you. Let’s be serious, you’re stating after 5 games you’ve turned a very good player into a world class player. Come on. You don’t really believe that. He was class at West Ham and most of you are now seeing how good he is, but you’ve improved him after 5 games. Surely you don’t really believe that. I’m sure most gooners know their football enough to not think that is the case.
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Was that a reply to me or the author of this piece?
For what its worth, I think Keenos is having a bit of a wind-up. I have been calling Declan Rice world class for at least 3 years and have always stated that I`d love to see him in Red & White. The scary thing about Rice is that he`s only going to get better over the next few years. That`s your loss and our gain but the old Appy Ammers seem to have spent well and improved other areas of the side.
Good luck to you, I`ve never had a grudge against West Ham. If anything, I`ve got a slight (very slight) soft spot for you.
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Where I sit is where the subs warm up. If we need to score in the last 20 minutes of a game, Jorginho spends that entire time “warming up”. What he is actually doing is coaching the players in attack in line with the edge of the box. I am sure it is a deliberate ploy by Arteta as it gives us a visionary voice in the attacking 3rd.
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Yeah, I`ve noticed that as well. That`s not just a leadership role within the group, that`s Arteta allowing him to coach from a different angle along the touchline. He`ll probably leave at the end of the season and take up a player/coach role back in Italy as he`s still got plenty to offer on the field of play. I really like him, think he`s top player and top character, maybe one day he`ll come back to The Arse and manage the club.
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