I can’t believe He did that with the ball today,He is so cal and calculative,He is the only Arsenal player that I’m really proud of at the moment’: Declan Rice praises One Arsenal player for what He did in today’s entertaining victory at Emirate
Declan Rice has issued his verdict on the performance of Jorginho as Arsenal claimed a massive win over Liverpool in the Premier League title race on Sunday.
The Gunners have closed the gap at the top of the table to two points, with Jurgen Klopp’s side enduring a calamitous day at the office defensively.
Mikel Arteta made a big call by deciding to bring Jorginho into the side alongside Declan Rice. And that proved to be a masterstroke, with the Italian and Rice dominating the midfield battle.
Declan Rice lauds Jorginho after Arsenal win
Jorginho was named the player of the match towards the end of the game. And speaking on Sky Sports (broadcast on 4/2; 18:48), Rice insisted that he was so impressed as he was asked about how good his teammate had been against Liverpool.
“Yeah unbelievable. People that drive it on. Obviously it was a kick in the teeth to concede so late after having a really good first-half. But we knew we had such a big 45 minutes in our season. And one goal couldn’t affect that. So we had to go out there and give it absolutely everything,” he said.
“Playing in the same position, he does things that are such high quality. And for myself, I’m trying to learn. Over the years, he’s been such a top player. The manager trusts him wholeheartedly. So to come in today and play like he did. He spoke to us yesterday and said the midfield battle’s going to be massive. We were really up for it today.”
Midfielder has been an inspired signing for Gunners
Arsenal fans understandably had concerns when Arteta made the move to sign Jorginho during the 2023 January transfer window. At the time, he had not had the best spell with Chelsea. And the Gunners were going for the title.
But Jorginho has been excellent almost whenever he has been called upon for Arsenal. He has certainly barely ever let the team down whenever he has come in. And he is clearly a crucial figure behind the scenes at London Colney.
It was a brave move to pick the 32-year-old against Liverpool. But Arsenal’s dominance in that area of the pitch gave them the platform to put the visitors’ defence under serious pressure.
And Liverpool had virtually no answers at all for Arsenal’s performance, which throws the title race wide open.
