Declan Rice: All Hands On Dec

[Legend14]

Nationality is irrelevant. I’m saying narratives can influence how anyone evaluates players, even subconsciously.

In possession, a lot of our actions involve short passing sequences to play through the thirds. That’s essentially possession football. In that structure, the 8 needs to be a connector and a creative player. You want someone who can manage tempo, combine in tight spaces and add attacking output

I also prefer Rice deeper than Zubimendi. Arteta just needs to allow more flexibility in the build up. When Rice was playing as the 6 for us in early 23/24, our build up from the back felt very

Clearly you are not speaking about our team and how we play football in the PL. When the match is wide open, like in other competitions, I can see the 8 role looking more like the Spanish league.

You have to first look at the circumstances and not how an ideal football team should function in a vacuum. Rice provides advantages at 8 that far exceed his creative limitations. Especially in the PL.

 

[GoonerJay24]

Clearly you are not speaking about our team and how we play football in the PL. When the match is wide open, like in other competitions, I can see the 8 role looking more like the Spanish league.

You have to first look at the circumstances and not how an ideal football team should function in a vacuum. Rice provides advantages at 8 that far exceed his creative limitations. Especially in the PL.

I get what you’re saying about the PL context, but Arsenal have always been a possession team, even under Wenger when the league was arguably more physical than it is now. Under Arteta we still build from the back and try to play through the thirds most weeks.

So for me the debate isn’t about whether Rice is good in PL; he clearly is. It’s about fitting into Arsenals play. If your identity is structured possession, midfield profiles matter differently. That’s why I'll always return to balance and connectors in midfield, not because I’m ignoring the PL environment.

Obviously modern Arsenal are more than just a possession team. Arteta is adaptive across all phases of the game, including set plays and optimizes us situationally. But ultimately on the ball, our foundation is still a possession based approach.

 

[viktor]

 

[Mitch]

 

[Aubamabludclat94]

Rice shouldn't be the standard for body resilience. He's a ****ing freak amongst freaks. Dude is never injured and is one of the most freakish athletes in the sport.

 

[El Duderino]

I agree with Upson who was on commentary that it's a matter of time before he's Captain of club and country.

@BigPoppaPump 's 9/11.

 

[viktor]

 

[viktor]

absolutely shocking gabriel & saliba not part of that while rat bruno who so poor in first half of the season part of that list, terrible probability

 

[GoonerJay24]

Morgan Rogers
Gabriel
Haaland
Thiago Jesus
Cherki

 

[merciarsene]

the dropoff when he is not in the team, tells us how vital a player is. Thats why Rodri was so lauded or De Bruyne or Mo Salah when he was good.

 

[Mitch]

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

He is the best player in the league by some distance.

 

[2Smokeyy]

He is the best player in the league by some distance.

When he gets the PFA award, you’ll go tug for tug I’m assuming

 

[merciarsene]

He is the best player in the league by some distance.

Have you seen what Szobosalai and Zubimendi have been doing. he has competition for being the best midfield player.

 

[viktor]

the dropoff when he is not in the team, tells us how vital a player is. Thats why Rodri was so lauded or De Bruyne or Mo Salah when he was good.

i even saw rodri lose duel against wirtz last week in final third, we all know wirtz is the weakest man in world football right now

 

[merciarsene]

i even saw rodri lose duel against wirtz last week in final third, we all know wirtz is the weakest man in world football right now

Man.. i really couldnt care less about duels and it will be all right if i never hear that word again. Coquelin won more duels than Cazorla, but i could see easily who was the better midfielder

 

[Xln]

Rice shouldn't be the standard for body resilience. He's a ****ing freak amongst freaks. Dude is never injured and is one of the most freakish athletes in the sport.

I swear if he gets injured soon you need to get a weekly ban for jinxing

 

[ArsenesCoatMaker]

Man.. i really couldnt care less about duels and it will be all right if i never hear that word again. Coquelin won more duels than Cazorla, but i could see easily who was the better midfielder

Prime Coq was the perfect foil for Santi and an enforcer the whole team though. We had massive holes between our midfield and defence that he'd run through his skin to cover and win the ball back

Santi-Coq midfield was the last time we won away against City IIRC

 

[GoonerJay24]

Prime Coq was the perfect foil for Santi and an enforcer the whole team though. We had massive holes between our midfield and defence that he'd run through his skin to cover and win the ball back

Santi-Coq midfield was the last time we won away against City IIRC

We couldn't replace Mertesacker well to play a high line and compact distances between units. Gazidis ruined everything, signing Mustafi

 

[Tourbillion]

We couldn't replace Mertesacker well to play a high line and compact distances between units. Gazidis ruined everything, signing Mustafi

Gazidis was dog **** and a cretin.