Declan Rice accused one of Arsenal’s coaches of incompetence in a blazing row at half-time in their 3-2 win over Chelsea, according to an expert lip-reader.
The midfielder clashed with Albert Stuivenberg, known as ‘AirPod Albert’, and claimed he ‘doesn’t know what the hell he’s on about’ in an expletive-laden rant at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
Gabriel Magalhaes intervened between the pair, physically separating them, though Rice continued to shout and gesticulate.
A camera pointing down the tunnel captured the argument and now an expert lip-reader, Jeremy Freeman, has revealed to the Daily Mail what was said during the clip we have.
Rice begins the sequence by saying ‘just go,’ and Gabriel steps in to say to Stuivenberg: ‘Stop, please stop, please stop’.
Then, according to Freeman, Rice blurts out: ‘Oh for f***’s sake’, at which point Gabriel asked him to be ‘calm’.
Declan Rice clashed with a member of Arsenal’s coaching staff at half-time against Chelsea
Gabriel Magalhaes had to come between the pair to try and defuse the tunnel argument
Rice boiled over during an intense clash at Stamford Bridge, which Arsenal won 3-2
Then came Rice’s insult: ‘He doesn’t know what the hell he is on about?’
The video ends with Gabriel saying: ‘Calm, hey stop, hey calm.’
Arsenal were 1-0 up at the time thanks to Ben White’s opener, and goals from Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi in the second half ensured they took a slender lead from Stamford Bridge in their Carabao Cup semi-final.
Stuivenberg has been one of Arteta’s most trusted lieutenants since 2019. He is known as ‘AirPod Albert’ due to his love for the wireless earpieces.
Daily Mail Sport has contacted Arsenal for comment.
Rice wasn’t the only star with a fiery temper on Wednesday. Zubimendi and Gabriel Jesus were at loggerheads with Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandezafter the final whistle.
Confrontations are not necessarily a sign of a team in poor health. Thierry Henry has previously spoken about the aggressiveness that was rampant in the Invincibles side of 2003-04.
‘I keep on saying to everybody we were competitors, wanting to win and would do anything to win, competing against Man United but the hardest thing ever was to train,’ Henry told The Football Show.
Stuivenberg joined Arsenal in 2019 alongside Mikel Arteta and is known as ‘AirPod Albert’
‘The training session, you saw what we did and what we didn’t do. All you are facing is Sol Campbell, [Martin] Keown, Kolo [Toure], every morning, that is what I had to deal with every morning and they had to deal with us.
‘It was so hard in training. Sometimes we would fight in training, battle. It makes me laugh when you hear “oh we argued” but it was meant to happen.’
‘You don’t win things without having that mentality,’ Henry revealed. ‘That ego, that respect for the team. And yes, battles happen… when you have players around you that demand excellence, that is what you are going to bring.
‘Those guys demand excellence, that is what I became. We had to clash because we had the same attitude and the same will to win.’
