It is a measure of Arsenal’s success in this season’s Champions League that their trip to Eindhoven was such a strange one. Mikel Arteta’s side required only five games to guarantee top spot in Group B, which meant that their sixth was little more than a chance for the Arsenal manager to experiment with his side.
A glorified training session? Perhaps. But that does not mean it was not worthwhile. Arteta used it as an opportunity to provide opportunities to the fringe players in his squad, to see who might propel themselves into contention. He also used it to try something new: Declan Rice, the £105 million midfielder, played most of the second half in the centre of defence.
Rice has played at the back before, in his early days at West Ham United. A long time has passed since then, though, and he is certainly not considered a defender any more.
Perhaps it was an indication, then, of Arteta’s Plan B – which we might also refer to as the ‘no-Saliba plan’. The loss of William Saliba to injury last season proved fatal to Arsenal’s title hopes. Is it possible that, if such a situation were to happen again, Rice would be the man to step in?
“We have to try,” said Arteta. “If we have an emergency we have to understand and be sure we can fill that gap in the right way. He has a lot of composure on the ball, he wins a lot of duels and he has done it in the past. He is a good option.”
