Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta makes Declan Rice admission in comparison with Brentford star

Mikel Arteta is preparing his Arsenal players to face Brentford in the Premier League

Mikel Arteta reminisced about the struggles Arsenal suffered against Rory Delap’s long throws as they prepare for Brentford’s modern recreation on Wednesday night.

While the Gunners have come into focus for their own set-piece success, the Bees’ Michael Kayode has stood out for his incredible launch that has already burned the likes of Liverpool already this season.

Meanwhile, despite Arsenal’s familiarity with the routines - previously with Thomas Partey and now Declan Rice - Arteta knows no one is as good as Brentford’s Italian full-back.

“Who is?” Arteta replied when asked how Rice compared to Kayode. “Everything has to evolve. I don’t know how good he was a year ago, or two years ago or three years ago. I know how good Declan was at taking set pieces three or four years ago, and I know how good he is now.

“So, it does not happen overnight. Things have to be trained, evolved and tweaked. And the player has to believe as well, which is key.”

Even before the arrival of Kayode, the Gunners were hurt in Brentford’s first season in the Premier League on the opening day of the 2021/22 campaign.

A long Ethan Pinnock throw landed at the then-Brentford captain Christian Norgaard after a scramble in the box. Arteta was quick, however, to point out the pandemic-hit preparation for that particular season opener.

“The preparation for that match was an absolute nightmare,” Arteta said. “It was the first game of the season, and for 12, 13 days, I think we lost seven or nine players with Covid.

“We were really struggling with it. But now I look back and said, we learned a lot, we suffered a lot, and that makes you better, hopefully. And I think we became better.”

Arsenal will hope they have got a lot better at defending long throws, despite Chelsea’s set-piece success on Sunday. Arteta was reminded of the painful past of facing the infamous Delap long throw.

While Stoke under Tony Pulis mastered it, Arteta explained exactly why this particular method of chance creation has become more prevalent in the modern-day game.

“Unfortunately, yes. We suffered that in the wind as well,” Arteta joked. “They certainly have that weapon like Stoke had and like other teams are trying to build as well, because obviously of the difficulty — because of the organisation of the teams — to score goals and to produce big chances.

“It is decreasing, and they have that opportunity every time the ball goes out of play.”

When asked about the experience of facing such scenarios firsthand, while admitting it was outside his responsibilities as a midfielder, his appreciation for the unpredictable element it brought gave insight into their present utilisation.

“Normally, I was more outside the box because of my size, so I was lucky I didn’t have to compete for the first ball,” Arteta said. “It is a very chaotic situation; it is very difficult to predict what is going to happen.”