WHEN Declan Rice joined Arsenal for £105million last summer, it was a chance for the England midfielder to prove himself.
He ended his West Ham career by leading them to victory in the European Conference League.
Rice immediately moved into a club challenging for honours at the top of the game, in the Premier League and the Champions League.
And for England who go into the summer's Euro 2024 championships as one of the favourites.
Rice is at the very heart of the team for both club and country, and his development this season has been remarkable.
The former Chelsea schoolboy is equally capable playing as a No6, at the base of the midfield, or as a No8, further up the field.
This versatility has led to Rice becoming one of the most coveted players in World football.
Rice is one of the best defensive midfielders in football at the moment but it is becoming clear he is much more than a purely defensive midfielder these days.
In this article we examine three key tactical factors behind the rise of Rice to become one of the best midfielders in football.
Ball winner
Rice has always been a midfielder that we would consider to have ‘range’ to his game.
This refers to his ability without the ball and not to his ability to play longer passes.
As a midfield player in this Arsenal system he usually plays as one of two midfielders on the deeper line and he is given the freedom to jump and look to engage the ball early in order to help his team to win the ball back as close to the opposition goal as possible.
Indeed under the current Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta we have seen a move to use Rice more as a player who is free to make his own decisions outside the tactical framework of the team.
This is really unusual for a team coached by Arteta who is known to be very strict in terms of how he wants his teams to play.
But it just goes to show that Arteta knows how effective Rice can be without the ball.
Rice is physically strong, at 6ft 2in with an athletic frame, but he has so much more to his game.
He also has a clever reading of the game and understanding of when to jump and when to hold a deeper position to make it effective.
Rice likes to vary his approach, when to push forward and when to drop back.
He only looks to attack the ball when he has a real chance of regaining possession.
Rice is much more than a midfielder who simply looks to sit in front of the defensive line and to deny the opposition space.
His range of play makes him very effective against the ball.
Composure in the final third
Given that Rice is now playing for one of the most possession dominant teams in Europe it is important that as a midfielder he has the ability to play in possession in the opposition half.
This does not mean that he has to make runs off the ball into advanced areas, like a No 8 would, but rather that he can support the ball from behind the play.
He effectively gives his team a strong base from which they can build their attack and when he receives the ball in the opposition half against a team that wants to sit in a defensive block he has the quality to break the opposition down.
This is a quality of Rice’s game that will also be applicable to England in the Euros over the summer.
Gareth Southgate’s team are likely to face a number of teams who will sit in a low defensive block to try to disrupt the English attack.
Rice is not a player who will be rushed in possession and again this is an aspect of his game that plays really well in Arteta’s preferred style as the Spainard prefers his side to dominate the game.
More often than not when Rice receives the ball at the base of the attack in these deeper positions he will just play the next simple pass to shift the attack.
It is when he looks to play the more dangerous passes, however, that he starts to really show his quality in possession.
Rice uses his physical frame and game understanding very effectively when receiving the ball in the opposition half.
He is press resistant – which means that even when the opposition want to apply quick pressure to the ball he will keep possession and he plays with his head up.
This makes him very effective in possession whether he is put under quick pressure or not.
Rice has developed this side of his game significantly since his move to Arsenal.
At West Ham he typically received and had to play in quick transitions as West Ham looked to attack quickly.
Now at Arsenal, and with England, he has developed into a controlling midfielder who can break down the opposition’s defensive block.
Cool under pressure
While Rice is a midfield player who is comfortable when he has to receive the ball at the base of the attack in the opposition half he has also developed into a player who is very effective in deeper areas when helping his team to outplay pressure.
This comes from playing as a midfielder who is increasingly more important in the modern game as more and more teams look to press and chase the ball as a team tries to play out from the back.
Rice, as an all-action midfielder, will drop back as Arsenal try to build out from the back to give a passing option to the goalkeeper or the central defenders and to help them to escape as the opposition looks to press.
For a player with Rice’s physical frame he also has a high technical level and as such he is comfortable receiving the ball facing his own goal and under pressure.
Crucially, he has also earned the trust of his teammates in these situations and they will give him the ball in tight situations.
With his ability to receive under pressure and quickly play off one or two touches to outplay the press we have seen Rice develop into possibly THE key player for Arsenal under Arteta.
What is interesting, however, is that when he plays these passes to escape pressure he will then make runs to support the play and start to help them to build the attack.
As a central midfielder Rice displays the ability to receive in tight areas and to play under pressure.
His presence and composure have grown notably since he moved to Arsenal and started to be coached by Arteta.
Conclusion
While there is no doubt that Declan Rice is one of the best midfielders in the world he is so much more than a purely defensive midfielder.
He has developed into one of the best allround midfielders out there with his ability to control and dominate the central areas of the pitch in all phases of the game.
He is also a midfielder who we believe will continue to develop as he becomes a key figure both at club and international level.