During Arsenal’s thrilling 3-2 victory over Chelsea, tensions flared at halftime as Declan Rice reportedly engaged in a heated exchange with one of the team’s coaches. The confrontation, as interpreted by a skilled lip-reader, saw the midfielder accuse coach Albert Stuivenberg, often referred to as ‘AirPod Albert’, of incompetence.

The incident unfolded at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, where Rice allegedly expressed his frustration in a profanity-laced tirade, claiming that Stuivenberg “doesn’t know what the hell he’s on about.” The altercation became so intense that Gabriel Magalhaes felt compelled to step in, positioning himself between the two to defuse the situation.

According to the lip-reader, the sequence began with Rice telling Stuivenberg to “just go,” prompting Gabriel to intervene and repeatedly ask the coach to “stop, please stop.” Despite Gabriel’s attempts to calm the situation, Rice reportedly exclaimed, “Oh for f***’s sake,” leading Gabriel to urge him to remain calm.

This fiery exchange highlights the passionate and sometimes volatile dynamics within top-level football teams, even amidst the backdrop of an impressive win. As emotions ran high, the incident served as a reminder of the intense pressures faced by players and coaching staff alike in the high-stakes world of Premier League football.

Then, according to Freeman, Rice blurts out: ‘Oh for f***’s sake’, at which point Gabriel asked 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  

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, and goals from Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi in the second half ensured they took a slender lead from Stamford Bridge in their Carabao Cup semi-final. 

Stuivenberg has been one of Arteta’s most trusted lieutenants since 2019. He is known as ‘AirPod Albert’ due to his love for 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.’