Declan Rice accused one of Arsenal’s coaches of incompetence in a heated argument at half-time of their 3-2 win over Chelsea, according to a lip-reading expert.
The midfielder clashed with Albert Stuivenberg, known as ‘AirPod Albert’, and claimed he ‘doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about’ in an expletive-laden rant at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
Gabriel Magalhaes stood between them, placing himself in the middle of them, although Rice continued shouting and gesticulating.
A camera pointed into the tunnel captured the argument and now lip-reading expert Jeremy Freeman has revealed to the Daily Mail what was said during the clip.
Rice begins the sequence by saying “just leave” and Gabriel steps in to tell Stuivenberg, “Stop, please, stop, please.”
Then, according to Freeman, Rice blurts out, “Oh, for God’s sake,” at which point Gabriel tells him to be “calm.”
Declan Rice confronted a member of the Arsenal coaching staff at half-time against Chelsea.
Gabriel Magalhaes had to get between the two to try to calm the argument in the tunnel.
Rice overflowed during an intense clash at Stamford Bridge, which Arsenal won 3-2
Then comes Rice’s insult: ‘Don’t you know what the hell you’re talking about?’
The video ends with Gabriel saying: ‘Calm down, hey stop, hey calm down.’
Arsenal were 1-0 up at the time thanks to Ben White’s first goal. Viktor Gyokeres and Martín Zubimendi scored in the second half, but Alejandro Garnacho scored twice to keep Chelsea tied.
Stuivenberg has been one of Arteta’s most trusted lieutenants since 2019. He is known as ‘AirPod Albert’ as he is regularly seen wearing wireless headphones.
Arteta and Stuivenberg developed a good relationship while studying for their UEFA A coaching licenses in Cardiff with the Football Association of Wales.
His coaching credentials date back to his native Holland after a cruciate ligament injury ended his playing career in 1989, launching a key role on the other side of the white lines.
He worked at Feyenoord for 13 years, helping to produce talents such as Robin van Persin, who would become one of the Emirates’ favourites. Stuivenberg progressed to work with the Dutch youth teams and Manchester United, where he was with Louis van Gaal. Spells at Belgian side Genk and Wales followed before joining Arsenal.
In January 2022 he took charge of Arsenal against Manchester City while Arteta had to isolate after contracting Covid-19.
Stuivenberg arrived at Arsenal in 2019 alongside Mikel Arteta and is known as ‘AirPod Albert’
Daily Mail Sport has contacted Arsenal for comment.
Rice wasn’t the only star with a fiery temper Wednesday. Zubimendi and Gabriel Jesús clashed with Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández after the final whistle.
Clashes are not necessarily a sign that a team is in poor health. Thierry Henry has previously spoken about the rampant aggression in the Invincibles team in 2003-04.
“I keep telling everyone that we were competitors, that we wanted to win and that we would do anything to win, competing against Man United, but the hardest thing was training,” Henry told The Football Show.
‘In training you saw what we did and what we didn’t do. All you face is Sol Campbell, [Martin] Keown, Kolo [Toure]every morning, that’s what I had to deal with every morning and they had to deal with us.
“It was very hard training. Sometimes we fought in training, in 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 who demand excellence, that’s what you’re going to bring to the table.
‘Those guys demand excellence, that’s what I became. “We had to face each other because we had the same attitude and the same will to win.”
