{"id":45891,"date":"2026-04-15T17:43:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T21:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/who-cares-what-people-think-arsenal-star-declan-rice-hits-back-at-critics-after-0-0-draw-with-sporting\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T17:43:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T21:43:22","slug":"who-cares-what-people-think-arsenal-star-declan-rice-hits-back-at-critics-after-0-0-draw-with-sporting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/who-cares-what-people-think-arsenal-star-declan-rice-hits-back-at-critics-after-0-0-draw-with-sporting\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Who cares what people think&#8217; &#8211; Arsenal star Declan Rice hits back at critics after 0-0 draw with Sporting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/who-cares-what-people-think-arsenal-star-declan-rice-hits-back-at-critics-after-0-0-draw-with-sporting\/#Declan_Rice_%E2%80%9CWho_cares_what_people_think%E2%80%9D\" >Declan Rice: &#8220;Who cares what people think?&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/who-cares-what-people-think-arsenal-star-declan-rice-hits-back-at-critics-after-0-0-draw-with-sporting\/#Next_up_is_a_big_game_against_Manchester_City\" >Next up is a big game against Manchester City.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Arsenal drew 0-0 with Sporting CP at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night in an uninspiring but tense game to book their place in the Champions League semi-finals for the second successive year.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Gunners won the first leg 1-0 on aggregate thanks to some late heroics from Kai Havertz, but the performance in north London left many critics questioning the team&#8217;s momentum.<\/p>\n<p>Despite lacking an attacking spark, Mikel Arteta&#8217;s side managed to survive a tough game and set up a tasty showdown with Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Download the official CaughtOffSide app to get all the latest news and updates straight to your phone. above <span role=\"presentation\"><u>apple<\/u><\/span>  &#038; <span role=\"presentation\"><u>Google play<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Declan_Rice_%E2%80%9CWho_cares_what_people_think%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Declan Rice: &#8220;Who cares what people think?&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Speaking to TNT Sports shortly after the final whistle, Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was unapologetic about the pragmatic nature of the win.<\/p>\n<p>Rice hit back at criticism that has been mounting following the club&#8217;s recent poor form, with suggestions the performance was &#8220;frustrating&#8221; for the home supporters.<\/p>\n<p>he said:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m happy. I&#8217;m very happy. We&#8217;re now one step ahead of last season and we want to get to the finals. Are we disappointed? No&#8230;we&#8217;re only getting to the semi-finals. Nobody cares what people think.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rice stressed that in the knockout stages of Europe&#8217;s elite competitions, results are the only statistics that matter.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a sense of tension because the stakes are so high. We stayed disciplined, kept a clean sheet and are in the top four. That&#8217;s the reality.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Next_up_is_a_big_game_against_Manchester_City\"><\/span>Next up is a big game against Manchester City.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Celebrations in Europe will not last long as the focus shifts to the domestic campaign, which has once again entered a tumultuous phase.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal head to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday to take on Manchester City in the Premier League title decider for what will be a &#8216;make or break&#8217; weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal&#8217;s season is at a critical juncture after their recent 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth, which saw them eliminated from both the FA Cup and League Cup.<\/p>\n<p>With injuries mounting, including fresh concerns over Noni Madueke, Arteta must find a way to reignite his team&#8217;s attacking rhythm if they are to beat Guardiola&#8217;s defending champions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal drew 0-0 with Sporting CP at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night in an uninspiring but tense game to book their place in the Champions League semi-finals for the second successive year. The Gunners won the first leg 1-0 on aggregate thanks to some late heroics from Kai Havertz, but the performance in north [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-45891","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}