Man City Win Is Why Arsenal Spent £100 Million for Declan Rice, says Mikael Silvestre

After a barren run of 12 consecutive Premier League losses against Man City, Arsenal finally got off their hump and beat the defending champions thanks to a deflected Gabriel Martinelli strike.

We caught up with former Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre who gave his thoughts on the match and also had special praise for Declan Rice.

In this article:

• Why Arsenal spent £100 million on Rice
• Arsenal’s quality squad depth
• Time will tell if Tottenham can sustain this run
• Safer gambling

This is why Arsenal spent £100 million on Declan Rice

Silvestre was full of praise for the mental resilience shown by the Gunners and Declan Rice’s performance in particular.

“That’s why they spent £100 million on Declan Rice. For these types of games.”

“These types of performances, tight wins, can be the difference between winning and losing the title. That’s why they were so disciplined.”

Silvestre adds that while it’s too early to say that this result will decide the title race, it will be a massive confidence booster for the Gunners.

“It’s good for Arsenal. It gives them the belief that now they can finally stop City. It’s early, we’re in the beginning of October but it’s important to keep the race on as long as possible.”

“So, it’s early on, but it’s important to beat the champions. When you beat the champions, you boost your confidence for sure. Arsenal weren’t necessarily lacking confidence, but it gives you even more self-belief.”

This win was down to Arsenal’s squad depth

Mikel Arteta subbed on Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu in the second half and all four of them combined for the decisive goal.

The former French international also acknowledged Arteta’s decision and said that Arsenal’s investment in squad depth showed in this match.

“The squad depth paid off, absolutely. They knew they had to thicken the squad after last season where they were a bit short towards the money time – March, April – that’s where they started losing ground.”

“We are early on but you can count on these players to be difference makers.”

The four-time Premier League winner also believes that if you’re in the opposition and you see players like Martinelli and Havertz coming on from the bench, it’s an unnerving sight.

“When you’re the opposition and you see these players coming in, you’re like ‘this is not going to get any easier’ cause the guys are great players and are fresh.”

Time will tell if Tottenham can sustain this performance

As it stands, only Arsenal and Tottenham are the Premier League sides to have not lost a game.

Silvestre believes his former side, however, has more balance than Tottenham and only time will tell if Ange Postecoglou’s side can maintain this run.

“Tottenham, time will tell. On their side, I’m not so sure they have the depth in the squad, but we’ll see, I think they’ve got a very good dynamic. In the North London Derby, they were lucky in that game.”

“They might be a little short on personnel. They might get lucky and get away with injuries, suspensions but they’re not as well-balanced as Arsenal, in all the positions.”

SAFER GAMBLING

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