Declan Rice: All Hands On Dec

[Blood on the Tracks]

I don't dislike Rice, but I do find him slightly overrated, especially for Arsenal

People like you just don't understand football in depth

If you think Rice is at a similar level to Coquelin or Flamini then I think you struggle to understand basic football concepts, I'll be honest.

I'll leave it there as this isn't a serious conversation.

 

[boonthegoon]

He is our insurance man, how many recoveries whew keeps running

 

[GoonerJay24]

If you think Rice is at a similar level to Coquelin or Flamini then I think you struggle to understand basic football concepts, I'll be honest.

I'll leave it there as this isn't a serious conversation.

'Basic football concepts' is usually code for I don’t actually have a counter argument

But carry on, ignorance suits you

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

'Basic football concepts' is usually code for I don’t actually have a counter argument

But carry on, ignorance suits you

I watched all of Coquelin, Flamini and Rice's careers at Arsenal. I have eyes and a pretty good understanding of the defensive midfield role, given Gilberto is one of my all time favourites Arsenal players.

There are genuinely probably more Arsenal fans that believe the earth is flat than believe Coquelin or Flamini were on a level with Rice.

It's a silly, hipster / contrarian argument.

 

[Trilly]

Think he’s showing some of the weaknesses in his game in an attacking sense when he picks up the ball on the edge of the box but you can always give him a pass considering that he’s pretty much always elite defensively.

 

[GoonerJay24]

I watched all of Coquelin, Flamini and Rice's careers at Arsenal. I have eyes and a pretty good understanding of the defensive midfield role, given Gilberto is one of my all time favourites Arsenal players.

There are genuinely probably more Arsenal fans that believe the earth is flat than believe Coquelin or Flamini were on a level with Rice.

It's a silly, hipster / contrarian argument.

Whenever someone brings up flat earthers in a football debate you know the argument’s run out of steam. Ultimately it’s just opinions, I simply don’t think the gap between the players is as big as you do.

Rice was really good today, box2box and energetic

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

Whenever someone brings up flat earthers in a football debate you know the argument’s run out of steam. Ultimately it’s just opinions, I simply don’t think the gap between the players is as big as you do.

Rice was really good today, box2box and energetic

When you're judging the defensive attributes of a midfielder you're looking at positional awareness, reading of the game, physicality / engine, tackling technique etc. These are facets of the game Rice is truly elite at.

The flaws in his game are more offensive based / his conservatism but he's still far better in those areas than Flamini or Coquelin were.

 

[GoonerJay24]

When you're judging the defensive attributes of a midfielder you're looking at positional awareness, reading of the game, physicality / engine, tackling technique etc. These are facets of the game Rice is truly elite at.

The flaws in his game are more offensive based / his conservatism but he's still far better in those areas than Flamini or Coquelin were.

People judge football differently. Some focus purely on attributes, others look at impact, balance within the team and what the player actually achieves in terms of titles. That’s why the great defensive midfielders like Keane, Makelele, Matthaus, Gilberto or Kanté are rated so highly, they dominated midfields and are decorated players.

Rice is a great player, but he hasn’t done that yet at Arsenal or in his career. He’s a CDM in a team challenging for titles, which is essentially the same competitive context Coquelin (2014-16) and Flamini (07-08) played in. When I look at those midfields; Coquelin with Cazorla or Flamini with Fabregas, Hleb etc, they actually looked more connected than some of the midfields Rice has been part of so far. And rightly or wrongly when someone costs £100m, people naturally expect a clear gulf in quality.

It's not I dislike Rice. It's just the gulf between him and those players is as huge as people claim. But this is how I view football which is different to you and others

 

[MikelHadADream]

Cheat code player. Not rating him is pseudo intellectual nonsense.

This bloke is an all timer.

 

[OnlyOne]

Best itw. Nothing more nothing less.

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

Riou tells us Obscuré McMerchant who sat on the bench for two games in the invincible season is better.

 

[grange]

He needs to stop scoring goals because his celebrations are horrendous.

 

[Rex Caudillo]

Annoying it’s a World Cup year because to me he’s the standout Ballon d’Or candidate based on club football.

Shame Tommy T is going to throw that campaign in the bin.

 

[Aubamabludclat94]

Great goal. Thought he looked a little timid in the first half when we had a lot of the ball but by no means a bad performance. The goal capped it off nicely

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

Best player on the pitch tonight.

Exceptional performance!

 

[boonthegoon]

love these finishes from him, unstoppable

great interference and run as well

if he just improves his passing somewhat, he'll be an all timer

 

[Gunner D]

People judge football differently. Some focus purely on attributes, others look at impact, balance within the team and what the player actually achieves in terms of titles. That’s why the great defensive midfielders like Keane, Makelele, Matthaus, Gilberto or Kanté are rated so highly, they dominated midfields and are decorated players.

Rice is a great player, but he hasn’t done that yet at Arsenal or in his career. He’s a CDM in a team challenging for titles, which is essentially the same competitive context Coquelin (2014-16) and Flamini (07-08) played in. When I look at those midfields; Coquelin with Cazorla or Flamini with Fabregas, Hleb etc, they actually looked more connected than some of the midfields Rice has been part of so far. And rightly or wrongly when someone costs £100m, people naturally expect a clear gulf in quality.

It's not I dislike Rice. It's just the gulf between him and those players is as huge as people claim. But this is how I view football which is different to you and others

Don’t you get bored of this?

 

[blaze_of_glory]

This guy winning POTS is going to break a few people on here.

 

[ArsenalInMyHeart]

 

[tap-in]

This guy could well be our most important signing for many years. Absolute monster tonight, £105m bargain!