“Arsenal won against us because of one player” Erik Ten Hag bound thoughts as stats reveals how impressive player was against Manchester United, Arteta will not dare bench him

“Arsenal won against us because of one player” Erik Ten Hag bound thoughts as stats reveals how impressive player was against Manchester United, Arteta will not dare bench him

Declan Rice’s force of personality powers Arsenal past Manchester United
Goals have been demanded of Rice and he picked the best time to get off the mark for his new club

Declan Rice’s force of personality powers Arsenal past Manchester United

Personality is one of the most under-appreciated values in football. Personality to stand out in a scrappy contest, personality to impress when the stakes are highest, personality to take control of a game that was petering out to a frustrating draw and personality to then harness vast swathes of a football stadium.

Declan Rice showed immense personality as he scored his first goal for Arsenal, as he drove them to victory and as he switched the dynamic even this early in the campaign when it was heading towards frustration inside the Emirates.

At the final whistle, as Manchester United slumped to their knees in disappointment, Rice was also bent double, after the effort he had put in, before suddenly righting himself. Maybe it was ”Ice, Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice – a song that the ebullient midfielder had appropriated as his own and even sung at his Arsenal initiation – playing over the sound system. But Rice was energised and that smile charged across this part of north London.

There was personality, also, afterwards as Rice discussed his £105million move to Arsenal from West Ham United, the pressure even this earlier in the campaign to keep pace with Manchester City – who he could have joined instead – and a playful swipe back at pundit Graeme Souness. And why not?

“What do you reckon Grae?” Rice said, laughing and in response to a comment after his move from Souness with the former Liverpool midfielder suggesting it was not Rice’s “fault” that Arsenal had paid such a huge fee for him and that he really had to score more goals to justify it.

“He has to live with that,” Souness warned and, guess what? That is precisely what Rice is doing. The 24-year-old is living with it, thriving in it and loving life. His enthusiasm is as infectious as his determination and it was enough to help drive Arsenal to the points with a goal after precisely 95 minutes and 43 seconds being the latest winner scored in this fixture in the Premier League era.

“I am quite an outgoing character,” Rice said and that, undoubtedly is lifting Arsenal.

“I can’t control the price. When I came here I did as much as possible to block it out…There is still so much more to come, more levels, for sure.”

Declan Rice (R) celebrates with Mikel Arteta (L) on the pitch CREDIT: Getty Images/Glyn Kirk
This was music to the ears for Arsenal’s fans, perhaps a bit more tuneful than Vanilla Ice’s iconic rap from the early 1990s, but just as joyous and infectious. “Collaborate and listen,” the lyrics go and Arsenal are listening to Rice’s tune and collaborating with him. The unleashed roar as he scored was not just delight and relief but also happiness as to the identity of the popular goalscorer.

So much has been made of the effectiveness or otherwise of Mikel Arteta’s summer signings, with Kai Havertz enduring another painful afternoon before being substituted, but there are no doubts over Rice. None whatsoever.

Even without his goal he had clearly been Arsenal’s best player in a game in which they pushed but also in which both sides seemed more concerned about not losing than winning.

Rice cleverly pulled away to beyond the far post and collected a corner – “I controlled it on my chin”, he said – before driving the ball goalwards. It deflected off substitute Jonny Evans, who United manager Erik ten Hag claimed was fouled, and beat goalkeeper Andre Onana.

Ultimately Arsenal deserved their win; a win that consigned United to a ninth defeat in their last 11 away games against top 10 teams and the fact they ended the contest with a centre-half pairing of Harry Maguire and 35-year-old Jonny Evans, making a second debut 16 years after his first appearance, showed the slightly chaotic state they find themselves in.

They lost Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof to injury here, to add to injuries to Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw, and while Ten Hag will curse his luck big clubs cope better than this.

To add salt to the smarting felt by United fans they know, also, that Rice was on the club’s wishlist before it not only became apparent that he wanted to join Arsenal but that financially they could not compete in the bidding.

So much has been made of the balance of Arteta’s side this season, as he tries to shoehorn Havertz into his midfield, but there was relief from the fans as he reverted to a more familiar line-up and not least in restoring his full-backs and bringing in Gabriel at centre-half.

Man Utd ended the match with Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire in central defence CREDIT: Getty Images /Robin Jones
Ahead of them, and despite Martin Odegaard’s eye-catching goal just a minute after Marcus Rashford’s even more stunning strike to open the scoring, it was Rice who was the dominant figure. Nominally playing as a No.6, the deepest lying midfielder, he played 27 passes in the final third, more than any other player.

After Rice’s goal substitute Gabriel Jesus sealed it as he ran through to score and while Ten Hag complained about Var decisions with an effort from another replacement Alejandro Garnacho, which would have won it, ruled out for offside, he must know Arsenal deserved the points despite a lively cameo from new £72million striker Rasmus Hojlund.

It brings us back to that quality assured that Rice brings. So often Arsenal can appear a talented but uptight team; one that can be ‘got at’ because of the expectation they face. With Rice there is something more invigorating and it might just make the difference this season as his personality shone through.