‘Very easy’ Declan Rice free-kicks belittled as pundit claims Arsenal ‘no better’ than Real Madrid
Declan Rice’s free-kicks were actually “very easy” to score and Real Madrid weren’t actually “much worse” than Arsenal in their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.
Rice scored two sublime free-kicks in 12 second-half minutes before Mikel Merino’s excellent finish gave Arsenal a 3-0 lead to take to the Bernabeu in the second leg next week.
Gunners legend Thierry Henry claimed Rice was a man “possessed” while manager Mikel Arteta insisted his goal were “two magic moments”, but former Madrid midfielder Sneijder would rather blame goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois than laud the England international’s stunning strikes.
“That wall wasn’t positioned properly for that first goal,” Sneijder said during his analysis for Ziggo Sport.
“He [Courtois] assumes that [Bukayo] Saka will take it, he is a left-footer. Then he can move the wall a bit more to the right, so that he can take his own corner.
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“A right-footed player should never be able to shoot around the wall from that angle. That’s not allowed.
“It seems a bit crazy what I’m going to say now. This seems very difficult, but for a right-footed player this is very easy.
“If you have a good strike then this is a very easy ball. When you are on the pitch, you see that the ball has to go around the wall on that side. The wall was too far to the left.”
Former Arsenal defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst added: “I think Wesley is right.
“The wall is too far to the right and he can shoot it past it. It’s easy to shoot a ball like that.”
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The team then analysed Rice’s second free-kick, with Marco van Basten saying: “This is just a beauty. There’s not much you can do about that.”
But Sneijder also took issue with Rice’s second effort, saying: “I would like to make a side note here…
“This one is quite far. If you watch the replay, you see Courtois take a step to the right. As a result, he has no chance in his own corner. That’s because of the uncertainty of that first goal. He hops up, no chance, bye, then you’re gone. If he stands in his own corner and trusts his wall, he’ll save it.”
Sneijder also believes Arsenal were “no better” than Madrid on the night, and claims the manner of the defeat will be as painful as the result itself.
“Certainly because of the way in which it happened,” Sneijder said.
“You haven’t really been that much worse than Arsenal. You’re actually 2-0 behind because of two great free-kicks. That’s sour.
“If you’ve been completely outplayed now, you’re at peace with that 3-0 and you’ll do everything you can next week. But there was no better tonight. It wasn’t much either.”
