Three ways Declan Rice has improved to become one of the best mids in the world

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.

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