Arteta defends Rice's playing time amid concerns

Mikel Arteta defended Arsenal’s treatment of Declan Rice and insisted they “are looking after him more than any other season.” Rice withdrew from the England squad in September but was one of five Arsenal players called up by Thomas Tuchel despite signs of fatigue during the second half of Wednesday’s Champions League win over Slavia Prague. The midfielder, who experienced long-term back and hamstring issues during the World Cup, was also rested for Arsenal’s defeat by Fleetwood in the Carabao Cup, having featured in every Premier League and Champions League game this season.

Arteta expressed, "Concerns? Which is the only player in this squad that for two games in the Carabao Cup has been left out of the squad? At home with two days off. That’s my concern.

“It’s not true that Rice has been overplayed. We are really looking after him more than any other season. The way he’s training and all the love. That’s it. Here are the demands of this football club and you have a player like him. Not only him because there are many others that have even less time. That’s it. That has to be the mindset. If you start to put other things in your brain, damage. Erase them, get them in the bin and just focus on what you have to do.”

Ben White’s return to the England squad for the first time since before the World Cup means the Arsenal contingent makes up a fifth of Tuchel’s selection, with Ezri Konsa, Myles Lewis-Skelly, and Eberechi Eze also included. Arteta emphasized the importance of having an “English core,” particularly an Arsenal connection.

“There is something that has to be within you, in your veins, in your roots,” the manager stressed. “When you are from here, you are so attached because we signed some players that they were already Arsenal supporters since they were kids and that has a different meaning. You can become one, which is great, and we have a few of them, but when it’s already there in your DNA it’s even more powerful and for me that’s very, very important.”