Declan Rice publicly defends Arsenal player fans have had enough of and want dropping from the team ASAP

 

Arsenal began their Champions League campaign with a draw against Atalanta.

Declan Rice has defended one of his Arsenal teammates after fans called for the player to be dropped.

On Thursday night, Arsenal were held to a 0-0 draw by Italian Serie A side Atalanta in the Champions League.

The hosts, who are the current Europa League holders, were awarded a penalty in the second half but Mateo Retegui was sensationally denied by Gunners goalkeeper David Raya.

After the match, winger Gabriel Martinelli received a lot of criticism from fans after yet another below-par performance.

Some fans called for Martinelli to be dropped ahead of Arsenal’s mouth-watering Premier League clash against Manchester City on Sunday.

Speaking after the match, Englishman Rice defended Martinelli. He said: “One thing with Gabi is that he’s quiet but he’s so tenacious. You see him in training, he’s always trying to get himself into the right areas, he wants it, he would’ve wanted to do better with the chance he’s had tonight.

“In training every day he’s working after training with our attacking coach, cutting balls across the edge of the box, scoring goals.”

Rice added: “I’m sure it’s going to come from him, we really need him, he’s a massive player.”

 

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Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said after the match: “It was a really tricky game emotionally because you are all man orientated, so every action counts in your emotions. When we had certain moments that didn’t go our way, I could sense the team was a little bit about to lose the discipline this requires.

“I think we showed more maturity tonight than last year – if you cannot see a way to win, at least don’t lose. But that is not certainly the message I want to send to the team.”

He continued: “Defensively we didn’t suffer – that’s the reality. But in the second half we gave a penalty away and I witnessed two of the best saves I’ve probably ever seen in my career to save us from that moment. After that, the game continued in the same way as after the first 25 minutes.

“We were inconsistent with the ball. We had moments but we never got it to dominance or a threat. Then we had a big chance with Gabi Martinelli to win the game, which unfortunately didn’t go in. [Overall] there’s a lot to improve.”