Three Things We Learned after Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford 

Here's Ian Mills with his regular series Three Things We Learned after Arsenal's draw at Old Trafford 

Declan Rice impressed at both ends of the pitch in an otherwise disappointing draw at Old Trafford.

Here are three things that stood out for Ian Mills

1 - Declan Rice – he is a steal at half price

– by his own admission the former West Ham Captain has not reached the heights of his debut season for the Gunners and there are a number of contributing factors for that -  a long season which ended in title heartbreak on the final day followed by going all the way to the European Championship final only to be the bridesmaid there too.

Added to that I still am not sure if Mikel Arteta knows Rice’s best position.

He is equally effective as a No6 or a No8 and his quality in both positions were on show in this game.

He can strike a ball from long distance as well as anyone in our side and proved that once more with our well taken equaliser and gleefully celebrated in front of the Gooner hordes.

He was celebrating louder not long after as his brilliant tackle on Hojlund prevented an almost certain goal.

He was everywhere in midfield and his attitude and commitment have even led to calls for him to be our new captain.

I think that is harsh on Martin Odegaard, however it is clear that both Rice and Odegaard need better players around them and particularly in attack if this team are to fulfil their potential.

2 - Raya’s reflexes help to preserve a point

– while some questioned his positioning for the Fernandes free kick there is no doubting that our Spanish goalkeeper’s second half display was one of the main reasons we left Manchester with any points at all after he made a string of saves.

He made a great block with his leg to deny Mazaroui, he then stopped Zirkzee’s clever flicked finish before producing his most impressive stops of the day. In injury time he saved well from Bruno Fernandes however the ball continued to spin towards goal and he once again displayed his incredible reflexes to claw the ball away from the goal line.

3 - Our final third struggles continue

– Despite dominating the first half we failed to create any real chances of note and it has become a familiar failure as our season threatens to drift away.

The seven-goal haul versus PSV had raised expectations ahead of this clash with a poor United side.

However, while our attacking injuries have been unprecedented, there is no escaping the fact that mistakes were made in last summers’ transfer window and further exacerbated by our inaction in January.

Andrea Berta’s imminent appointment as our new sporting director is much needed, and one of his first tasks must be to acquire the quality attacking additions the squad is crying out fo