Interview
Rice and Ljungberg chat trophies, Chelsea and more
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Arsenal Media
09 Nov 2024
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This week, Declan Rice spoke to Gunners legend Freddie Ljungberg to talk all about the desire to win trophies, Sunday’s game against Chelsea and more.
Read the discussion between the two of them in full below.
Freddie: When I arrived at Arsenal, Pat Rice was the assistant manager. He said to me ‘when you come to Arsenal, you have to win trophies’. That was the mentality but unfortunately we came second three times in a row, which he wasn’t happy about. Then we did the double. You’ve had some amazing seasons but how do you keep the standards and keep on going?
Declan: It’s so important to keep believing in the process, still pushing and believing that you can win it. You might have setbacks, but they will help you to push. Missing out last year was so gutting, but it’s another chance to get the Premier League title now. It’s not been the greatest start in terms of points but there’s such a long way to go. There’s a lot of noise, but we’re still positive.
Freddie: From the inside, how do you deal with the noise and how is the feeling in the squad?
Declan: Football is a sport that can make you so happy, so sad, angry… this is Arsenal Football Club and to not win football matches consecutively is going to cause upset. That happens with the players as well. We’re obviously not happy with the recent results, but the feeling is still so positive. If you invited fans to come and see how we’re training, nothing’s changed from what it was last season. We’re playing against really good teams and we’ve not been at our best as well.
After the international break it started with us killing ourselves with another red card, giving ourselves a mountain to climb against Bournemouth, who are a very good team with very good players. We drew to Liverpool, I thought we were very good in that game, could’ve been better in the second half. Obviously we lost to Newcastle last week which wasn’t a good performance, but like I said we’re still so positive because we know what we can do. We know how we can hurt teams. I think the togetherness in this group is amazing. Now, with a big one coming on Sunday, it gives us a chance to see where we’re really at.
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Freddie: This season Arsenal have been a bit more defensive. Did you work on that before the season started?
Declan: Red cards have been tough. To play 45 minutes against Brighton, who are known for keeping the ball and creating spaces, Man City the same and then obviously Bournemouth, you have change your tactics. I think in general the manager wants us to be compact. He doesn’t want us to be conceding a lot of chances going about pressing all over the pitch. We are an unbelievable pressing team and players from other teams say that you straight away.
We suffocate teams with our press and there’s a time and place to do that. It’s recognising when we can sit in and be strong. We’re comfortable in that block or go all out an attack teams. There’s been a bit of a balance this year, but we’re also playing against very good teams week in week out. Now the Premier League is so tough, there’s no guaranteed wins. You have to earn every point. This weekend is a key one because Chelsea have been really good this season and we can see where we’re at with our character and mentality.
Freddie: Everybody talks about Martin Odegaard’s creativity and of course it’s amazing, but I feel he’s the key when you go for the pressing. How much have you missed him?
Declan: Massively. First and foremost he’s our captain, so to not have your captain for this time is going to hurt any team. Martin, when you play with him, the enthusiasm he brings, how good he is on the ball, how he likes to defend and start the press off and win balls back to create chances, we have missed that this season, but now he’s back. I can’t wait to have him back and see him do what he does best on a football pitch. It’s so nice to watch and it’s a big boost for us.
Freddie: It’s only mid-November but some people are saying Chelsea is already a must-win game. How do you feel about that?
Declan: Yeah, we’re ready. It’s a massive game. Every time you play a London derby, it speaks for itself what it means. You never want to lose one of them. Last season we had good results in our London derbies and it’s going to be important for us this season as well. We know as a group of players what we can do on the football pitch.
We can get three points, go out there and play well. It’s about doing it on the day. Chelsea are a really good team so we have to earn it, go out there and give it everything. I’m sure after the recent run of results we’re going to be up for it. We’re not going to need any extra fire to go out there. We know what we need to do.
Freddie: It feels like Chelsea have got their act together this season. What are your thoughts?
Declan: I think the transition they’ve made this season has been amazing compared to last season. The coach, I worked with him at West Ham for a few years, so I know Enzo really well and he’s a really good guy. They’ve got a young, exciting squad of players, so fair play to them for what they’re doing because there was a lot of negative talk about Chelsea last season. They’ve put that behind them to play how they’ve done this year with their style of play and attack, so credit to them. It’s set up to be a really tough game.
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Freddie: How important is it to win a trophy this season?
Declan: So important. I say that strongly. This team has been close now in the Premier League for the last two years. Last year was the first season back in the Champions League and we got to the quarter-finals but went out of the cups early. Now we’re into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup already, so this team and the squad of players we have, if you look at teams like Man City and Liverpool who have been competing for trophies for the last few years because their players are consistently playing in these games, not moaning about it, just getting on with it and having that mentality to win.
I see us train every day, I see how much the manager puts into us. To win something here is so important. We really want it. You end up having the best days and nights or your life when you win stuff. It’s really important this year we can win something.
Freddie: I spoke to Tony Adams about it. It’s so important to get that first trophy, then it rolls.
Declan: Exactly, that could easily happen with the quality I see every day and how we are as people. The mentality of this team, we’re so driven to want to win and succeed, I think the last two years with the Premier League has been really tough, but you can only keep knocking and in the end you will be successful. I’m sure positive things are coming for this club. It’s been so positive over the last four or five years from where it was before that. We just need to stick with each other and keep believing in ourselves
