Arsenal opened their Champions League league-phase campaign with a 1-0 win at Napoli on Wednesday, and by the time Declan Rice reached the microphones he was already talking about the trophy his side did not lift last May.
“Losing that Champions League final really hurt. Seeing that trophy and seeing PSG lift it, that stays with you,” Rice told reporters.
The defeat in Budapest closed a 55-game club season for Rice, who then reported for England duty carrying nerve pain in a hamstring. He was left out of the group game against Panama at the World Cup and lasted only 45 minutes of the quarter-final with Norway, before recovering to start both the semi-final and the third-place play-off under Thomas Tuchel.
“It was tough,” Rice said of the tournament. “Everyone knew I had an issue with a neural hamstring.”
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Three weeks off, then a fresh start
The fix was rest, not treatment. Rice used his post-tournament break to switch off completely before returning to pre-season.
“In the summer, I took three complete weeks off, I didn’t do anything. I let it really rest, let it settle it down,” he told Sky Sports. “I have come back refreshed, really ready and ready to go again. I feel really good at the minute, in really good form. Long may it continue.”
That freshness is a significant lift for Mikel Arteta. Rice is the pivot Arteta trusts to cover ground on both sides of the ball, and his early-season form has arrived just as the league phase begins.
Odegaard finishes what Arsenal started
The winning goal in Naples came in the 75th minute through Martin Odegaard, back on the scoresheet and, in Rice’s telling, back to his best.
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“When a player like that is fit and has that quality to play, he can shine in any team and for us he’s so important,” Rice said. “For him to score three goals in the season so far, it’s massive for him but also unreal for us, because when he’s at the top of his game he makes us a better team.”
Rice also pointed to the conditions in Naples, calling it the hottest game he has played in an Arsenal shirt and comparing the heavy pitch to what he had experienced at the World Cup.
‘Sustainable’ at 60-plus games
Rice pushed back on the idea that his workload was the cause of his summer troubles. He has dismissed concerns about the 69 appearances he made for club and country in the previous campaign.
“For the last six seasons, even since my West Ham days when it was in Europe, I’ve played 60 plus every season,” he said. “It’s just about maintaining it, maintaining the level and the consistency of the performances. I’m really hungry to be able to do that again this season.”
Arsenal travel to Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday.
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