FORMER Arsenal star Emmanuel Petit believes Declan Rice is being wasted by Mikel Arteta this season.
Rice has so far played as more of a box to box No8 but Petit believes he should play as a defensive No6 to get the best out of the England midfielder.
Petit told Compare.bet: “Declan Rice’s priority for Arsenal should be to maintain the balance of the side and to win the ball back for his team.
“He does those things so well. I think he is wasted a bit in that number 8 role where Xhaka played last season because he is such a brilliant holding midfielder.
“You cannot ask him to play how Xhaka played last year because that’s not his position.
“His best position is as a holding midfielder and that is where the manager should play him, it’s fundamental to how Arteta wants to play.”
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Petit was a defensive midfielder himself and played for The Gunners between 1997 and 2000 before leaving for Barcelona.
He returned to the Premier League with Chelsea in 2001.
Petit, who was part of the French national squad that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, added that he felt Arsenal should sign Bayern Munich pair Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich to solve what he considers to be Arsenal’s midfield conundrum.
He said: “The main two players I would target if I was Arsenal would be Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka.
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“They are both incredible players with huge experience who have both been at Bayern for a while and would maybe like a new challenge.
“Goretzka has played at such a high level for so long and is still only 28, and I think Kimmich would be great for Arsenal, even if the price tag may be a bit expensive.”
Rice himself admitted after last week’s game with Sevilla that he feels the No6 is his strongest position despite winning Man of the Match in a more advanced role.
He said to the TNT crew: “I think my best position is probably as a No6. My biggest strength is breaking up the play and taking the ball from deep.
“I do get excited when I play No8 though. I get to show the other side of my game. I didn’t stop running tonight.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
