Brentford manager Thomas Frank has shared his straightforward plan to stop Arsenal’s free-kick specialist Declan Rice — avoid conceding fouls near the penalty area.
Frank was at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to watch England midfielder Rice score two brilliant free-kicks during Arsenal’s 3-0 Champions League quarter-final first-leg victory over Real Madrid.
Prior to that match, Rice had never scored a free-kick in his career, but his thunderous strikes against the holders left a lasting impression on Frank.
As a result, the Brentford manager has warned his team to be cautious when defending around the box.
“An unbelievably impressive performance — I went to the game and Arsenal were excellent, they fully deserved to win,” Frank said on Friday, ahead of their Premier League London derby.
“Two fantastic free-kicks from Declan Rice. The first one was clever, bending it around the wall, and the second was an absolute screamer. Top corner. Wow!”
Frank added, “The second one is very difficult to defend — although you can avoid giving a free-kick away. Let’s avoid giving away soft fouls, of course.”
“On the first one, I hope our wall would be slightly different so you can’t go around that side. But, yeah, let’s just avoid fouls.”
Brentford has never won at Arsenal in the Premier League, but they could face a weakened Gunners side if manager Mikel Arteta decides to rest players ahead of next week’s second leg in Madrid.
However, Frank insists that Arsenal, currently in second place, will still be a formidable challenge, regardless of who is on the pitch.
“I think you can see that Arsenal have that unbelievable level that they can reach, and they definitely hit that against Real Madrid,” he said.
“No matter who they put on the pitch, they will still be strong with great players.”
