Declan Rice involved in angry confrontation as ‘frank discussions’ held at Arsenal
Declan Rice was left furious in the aftermath of Arsenal’s narrow victory over Wolves on Saturday.
Arsenal beat Wolves 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium, with Yerson Mosquera‘s 94th-minute own-goal salvaging the three points.
It was a dismal display from the Premier League leaders, who had been ahead through another own-goal before Tolu Arokodare‘s stoppage-time header levelled the scores.
Ben White was forced off injured against Wolves, with the right-back now set to join a host of injured Arsenal defenders.
Cristhian Mosquera picked up an ankle issue against Brentford at the start of the month, and is not expected to return until at least the end of the year.
Arsenal dressing room explodes after dismal Wolves display
Arsenal are set for a difficult six-game run into the new year, with all six teams having taken points off them last season.
With a key run approaching, it was of no help to Mikel Arteta that his side appeared devoid of any ideas against Wolves on Saturday.
The visitors set up to frustrate, but given the attacking talent available to the Gunners, breaking down a team who have conceded 35 goals in just 16 games should not have been an issue.
| Arsenal | Match stats | Wolves |
| 69% | Possession | 31% |
| 16 | Shots | 3 |
| 2 | Shots on target | 2 |
| 1.13 | Expected goals (xG) | 0.38 |
| 8 | Corners | 0 |
Arsenal huffed and puffed, but created very little and were fortunate to go ahead when Bukayo Saka‘s corner rebounded off the post and onto the back of Sam Johnstone before hitting the net.
With the deadlock broken, Arteta may have expected his side to go on and add a second or indeed a third, but the Gunners instead sunk back to the edge of their box.
Wolves took the initiative and duly punished the league leaders, who could only breathe a sigh of relief when, moments later, Saka again found a cross that deflected in via a defender.
In the celebrations, Rice could be seen pointing to his head and barking at his teammates, with the midfielder’s anger at the performance bleeding into the dressing room.
Telegraph Sport reported on Monday that there were frank discussions between the Arsenal players following the game, with Rice and captain Martin Odegaard among those to voice their frustrations.
Arteta was similar in his reaction, with his players collectively agreeing that they had fallen far below the standards.
Arsenal need response after ‘horrible’ showing
While furious with the performance, Arteta would have been pleased by his players’ acceptance that they had not been good enough.
Such a showing has perhaps come at a good time for Arsenal, with this week serving as the first chance of an actual break between games.
Considering how close they came to dropping points against the Premier League’s bottom club, the Gunners will surely now know that standards must rise.
Speaking after the game, Arteta said: “We generated more chances, scored a goal, but after we had a period of two or three minutes in deep, totally passive, with horrible defensive habits, that is nowhere near the level that is required against a team that hasn’t had a single shot.
That response will have to start against Everton on Saturday, with the trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium set to kick off a vital month of football.