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, placing himself in the middle of 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.
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 asks 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
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Rice boiled over during an intense clash at Stamford Bridge, which Arsenal won 3-2
Then comes 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. Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi scored in the second half, but Alejandro Garnacho netted twice to keep Chelsea in the tie.
Stuivenberg has been one of Arteta’s most trusted lieutenants since 2019. He is known as ‘AirPod Albert’ as he is regularly seen wearing the wireless earpieces.
Arteta and Stuivenberg struck up a rapport when studying for their UEFA A coaching licenses in Cardiff with the Football Association of Wales.
His credentials as a coach go back to his native Holland after a cruciate ligament injury ended his playing career in 1989, putting wheels in motion for a key role to come on the other side of the white lines.
He worked at Feyenoord for 13 years, helping to bring through talents such as Robin van Persin, who would become an Emirates favourite. Stuivenberg progressed to work with the Dutch national youth teams and Manchester United, where he was under Louis van Gaal. Stints at Belgian side Genk and Wales followed before he joined Arsenal.
In January 2022 he took charge of Arsenal against Manchester City while Arteta had to isolate after contracting Covid-19.
Stuivenberg joined 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 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.
‘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.’
