Gary Neville thinks Mikel Arteta has just done something quite weird at Arsenal

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Gary Neville has been speaking about Declan Rice and Arsenal after Mikel Arteta decided to put the England international on set piece duty.

The 48-year-old made the comments on The Overlap for Sky Sports.

So, what did Gary Neville think of Mikel Arteta putting Declan Rice on corners at Arsenal? Let’s take a look…

What Gary Neville said about Declan Rice

Well, the 48-year-old expressed a bit of shock at Arsenal’s No.41 taking corners, given his aerial dominance and physique.

Neville told Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane and Jill Scott: “I was watching the Arsenal West Ham game. Declan Rice is taking set pieces. I said to the stats guy – who is an Arsenal fan – when did he start taking set pieces?

“They scored two (against West Ham) from set pieces and I was interested in the idea. Seeing a 6ft 2in or 6ft 3in player on set pieces, you wouldn’t ordinarily think it would happen.”

Rice – who Neville thinks Manchester United should have signed – often scored towering headers from corners for West Ham, so it was a bold decision from Arteta to place his £105m man on dead ball duty.

However, it has wholly paid off as Arsenal become a dominant force from set pieces with the 25-year-old stood over the ball.

Mikel Arteta is finding marginal gains for Arsenal

People do not usually associate Arsenal with being a menacing side from set pieces, although Arteta has clearly seen the benefits in making his team a force from dead ball situations.

The Spaniard has arguably found a marginal gain for Arsenal in that sense, with most of the 41-year-old’s work since replacing Unai Emery being based on slick patterns of attacking play and building moves from the back.

In our view, it is very smart from Arteta – Manchester City and Liverpool have very few weaknesses, with both also possessing the experience of a title race, so it is important for Arsenal to find a marginal gain such as becoming a powerhouse from set pieces, which can give the north Londoners an edge.