Declan Rice Has Bleak Warning for Arsenal As Trophy Credentials Put to the Test

The Gunners are trying to break a 22-year Premier League title drought and could still win a quadruple.

It’s on Arsenal players not to let this chance go, says Declan Rice. | Visionhaus/Getty Images

Declan Rice has bleakly warned that Arsenal’s strong position and chance of success in multiple competitions this season “isn’t going to last” if poor recent results carry on.

The Gunners have dropped points in back-to-back Premier League games after leading in both with 20 or fewer minutes to play and have only won two of their last seven in the competition, taking just 10 points from the last 21 on offer to them.

Arsenal still lead the Premier League, but with Manchester City breathing down their neck, being overtaken and settling for a fourth successive second-place finish is also a possibility.

Speaking to Sky Sports before Sunday’s north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur, Rice dismissed the “outside noise” as ‘bottling’ narratives naturally grow. The midfielder said the players “fully believe” in each other and have the mental strength to move on from setbacks.

“And we enjoy it every day,” he added. “Of course you do. This is our job—we’re playing for Arsenal, we’re in the final of the [Carabao] Cup, in the next round of the FA Cup, in the [last 16 of the] Champions League, first in the Premier League.

“We need some perspective about where we are, but also we need to look a bit bigger to understand that if we carry on doing what we’re doing in terms of the results, it isn’t going to last.”

Rice insists Arsenal have the ability to “win every game”, as evidenced by their domestic and European form earlier in the season, but the onus is on the players to “pick that up” before it’s too late.

“We’ve got to be switched on. You’re going to be ready for everything that’s thrown at you because that’s what is needed for these final games,” he said.

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Quadruple, Nothing Both Still Possible

Arsenal could win it all this season—Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup—something no English club has ever managed before. Equally, there is a genuine possibility they end 2025–26 with no trophies and the hunt for major silverware extends into a seventh year.

The team’s Premier League title challenge remains in their own hands, as long as results fall back into line, seeking to end a drought that already spans 22 years. If the Gunners win all other remaining fixtures, they can afford to draw with Manchester City in the league in April. But that’s easier said than done for a side whose record in the final stretch in recent seasons hasn’t been great.

Arsenal have the Carabao Cup final against City at Wembley on March 22, facing Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen or Olympiacos over two legs in the Champions League shortly before then. Their FA Cup fifth-round tie is against League One’s Mansfield Town on March 7.

Winning multiple trophies in one season is about being able to balance performances across different competitions when the pressure is on.

There is a reason an English team is yet to win a quadruple: it’s incredibly hard. Only Manchester United (1998–99) and Manchester City (2022–23) have ever managed the treble before now.

Liverpool were the last team in with a shot of an unprecedented quadruple during the 2021–22 campaign. The Reds won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup but fell in the two more challenging competitions, finishing runner-up in the Premier League and losing the Champions League final.

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