Alan Shearer picks Declan Rice ahead of Ryan Gravenberch in Premier League Team of the Season
Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has picked Arsenal star Declan Rice ahead of Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch in his Premier League Team of the Season.
Arsenal have had a difficult league campaign. The season started with high expectations of winning the title, but they have fallen short of the target due to injuries, inconsistent form and dubious refereeing decisions.
Despite this, there are some positives to carry forward. The Gunners progressed until the last four of the Champions League. They produced a statement 5-1 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the quarter-final stage.
Shearer has now picked his Premier League Team of the Season with two Arsenal stars. The former Magpies striker chose William Saliba ahead of Nottingham Forest’s Nikola Milenkovic and said that he has been rock in the heart of Arsenal’s defence.
Declan Rice was the second pick. Shearer said that he has been technically superb and incredibly strong in his duels. His stand-out displays in the Premier League and Champions League have got him the nod over Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch, as per the 54-year-old.
He said: “Technically superb and incredibly strong in his duels, Rice has enjoyed another standout season in the Premier League, while his inspired displays took Arsenal to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. He keeps out Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch.”
Rice started the campaign in a slow fashion. He struggled to find consistency and made just one goal contribution in the league until the start of November.
However, his form picked up ahead of the turn of the year. The midfielder has had another 10 goal involvements in the league – 19 overall in all competitions.
His world-class free-kicks against Los Blancos have undoubtedly been the highlight of his campaign. Rice will probably want to step up to another level at Arsenal next season.
The 26-year-old has got into terrific goalscoring positions. If he can increase his scoring frequency, he can easily become one of the best box-to-box midfielders in world football.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
