Declan Rice: Balon D’ec

[BigPoppaPump]

Before this gets out of hand I’d like to call my first witness to the stand:


















I wouldn’t take what he says about players too seriously…

You're such a nerd for going through my posts to find out of context quotes that were mostly jokes.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Palmer is top top class. Different players but I think he genuinely might be more talented than Foden and that’s not even going off the goal yesterday but everything we saw of him last season. It’ll be interesting to see how long he stays at Chelsea if they continue to smell it up like they currently are.

I reckon Palmer could have easily made the RW position his own after Mahrez departed last summer.

Palmer is good. I wonder if we were in for him last summer but City refuse to sell us players ever again.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Southgate.jpg

Jokes aside, i think it’s very tactically clear which is why I haven’t really bothered with/responding to strong criticism of any England players.

People need to talk about how England doesn't have any playmakers or creative players, that's been the issue forever. Look at Spain, even guys we've never heard of before can control the ball and pass it to a high level. In England no one actually wants the ball everyone wants to be at the end of it or be the one to win it back.

 

[db10_therza]

You're such a nerd for going through my posts to find out of context quotes that were mostly jokes.

You think context is relevant on AM? You have 20k posts on here ffs

 

[BigPoppaPump]

You think context is relevant on AM? You have 20k posts on here ffs

Well you're just being a sycophant here then, hoping for some laugh reactions.

 

[db10_therza]

Well you're just being a sycophant here then, hoping for some laugh reactions.

Yes. Welcome to the off season. Would you like us all to add disclaimers to our posts when we’re not being deadly serious?

 

[2Smokeyy]

Palmer is good. I wonder if we were in for him last summer but City refuse to sell us players ever again.

I would like to hope so. Players like Palmer are the sort of players that we need with BDE and don’t get go missing when the lights are bright.

Too many players cave under the pressure of a big game these days.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Yes. Welcome to the off season. Would you like us all to add disclaimers to our posts when we’re not being deadly serious?

Oh so you're trying to be funny here? It's hard to tell.

 

[Macho]

He was playing with prime Ronaldo, Benzema, Di Maria etc for a playing who's main skill was through balls thats perfect and even then they got rid of him after 3 seasons and Germany also shifted him to the LW.

He was good at through balls and recycling possession but wasn't elite really, don't think anyone watched him at Arsenal thinking he was this amazing player just a big name.

I had my issues with Özil deep into his Arsenal career after his renewal but this is humongous cap.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

I had my issues with Özil deep into his Arsenal career after his renewal but this is humongous cap.

I'm not saying he was bad but I don't think I watched Özil at Arsenal thinking he played at some unreachable level.

 

[Macho]

I'm not saying he was bad but I don't think I watched Özil at Arsenal thinking he played at some unreachable level.

Yet you see it from Ødegaard somehow.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Yet you see it from Ødegaard somehow.

Nah Ødegaard and Özil play at the same level but I rate Ødegaard more because he's willing to do more. I mean guys like Bergkamp or Vieira when it comes to unreachable level, i'd never compare the former two to the latter.

 

[DJ_Markstar]

Nah man you had it right the first time don’t get swayed by nostalgiou I swear one time he was getting angry coz I though Xabi Alonso was better than Gilberto fs.

Not saying Gilberto is worse than Rice btw, just saying there’s a conversation there and they have different styles and strengths / weaknesses.

GS was the invisible wall and Rice is very much an in your face visible wall. How would Gilberto fare in the modern era of intense pressing etc idk man, let’s be real he would stick out a bit. But for that era of football he was perfect.

 

[DJ_Markstar]

I would like to hope so. Players like Palmer are the sort of players that we need with BDE and don’t get go missing when the lights are bright.

Too many players cave under the pressure of a big game these days.

Probably one of the biggest plus points for a guy like Bellingham, you get the sense he has 0 doubts he belongs in finals, people call it arrogance or whatever but there's no room for doubt when you're in a CL final.

 

[Trilly]

People need to talk about how England doesn't have any playmakers or creative players, that's been the issue forever. Look at Spain, even guys we've never heard of before can control the ball and pass it to a high level. In England no one actually wants the ball everyone wants to be at the end of it or be the one to win it back.

Saka and Foden are super creative, not in the Özil/Ødegaard mould but they're chance creation machines. Even Kane has the potential to rack up assists.


A true pass master would be nice but there's enough creativity in the final third imo. In the middle third though? Awful. It should have been Trent but guy looks lost in CM (for England).

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Saka and Foden are super creative, not in the Özil/Ødegaard mould but they're chance creation machines. Even Kane has the potential to rack up assists.


A true pass master would be nice but there's enough creativity in the final third imo. In the middle third though? Awful. It should have been Trent but guy looks lost in CM (for England).

I’m talking about the midfield though. Why would you want your most creative players in the final third?

Rice and Bellingham being the first names in midfield means you’re already handicapped when it comes to creating.

 

[Dokaka]

I’m talking about the midfield though. Why would you want your most creative players in the final third?

Rice and Bellingham being the first names in midfield means you’re already handicapped when it comes to creating.

Have you ever seen a Klopp team? The man won the CL and PL with a midfield 3 of Fabinho, Henderson and Wijnaldum, infinitely less creative than what England has available.

You don't need "real playmakers" to win. You need it to play like Spain, sure, but there are other ways to create chances.

Liverpool basically bypassed their midfield with good ball playing defenders (something England has, including one from the Liverpool team) and utilized the strength of their midfielders instead of just wishing they were something they are not.

 

[Rattata]

I hate Southgate for what he did to Rice. People seriously believe he's a bad player now. Knowing Rice this will motivate him even more but still it's annoying as a fan. If I look back on last season I was always so impressed how he barely makes any error on the ball despite us playing faster than England.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Have you ever seen a Klopp team? The man won the CL and PL with a midfield 3 of Fabinho, Henderson and Wijnaldum, infinitely less creative than what England has available.

You don't need "real playmakers" to win. You need it to play like Spain, sure, but there are other ways to create chances.

Liverpool basically bypassed their midfield with good ball playing defenders (something England has, including one from the Liverpool team) and utilized the strength of their midfielders instead of just wishing they were something they are not.

That midfield 3 isn't infinitely less creative than what England have avaliable if anything they're more creative. Regardless so many of Liverpool's chances were being created by the fullbacks, its why people think Trent can play in midfield and got so many assists. Also Liverpool had a front 3 that could create for themselves and eachother, none of Englands front 3 are half as good as Mane/Salah and I love Saka.

"utilized the strength of their midfielders instead of just wishing they were something they are not." This is why they went to get guys like Thiago and Macallister even Szobowhatever is supposed to be able to do it. Klopp knew you gotta have creative midfielders you can't rely on the front 3 creating for themselves.

Why do you think City have been more successful in the same time? They go for creativity and ball players in every midfield position.

 

[Dokaka]

That midfield 3 isn't infinitely less creative than what England have avaliable if anything they're more creative. Regardless so many of Liverpool's chances were being created by the fullbacks, its why people think Trent can play in midfield and got so many assists. Also Liverpool had a front 3 that could create for themselves and eachother, none of Englands front 3 are half as good as Mane/Salah and I love Saka.

You genuinely believe Fabinho, Henderson and Wijnaldum are more creative than players like Bellingham, Foden, Eze, Mainoo etc?

Yes the fullbacks were important but England literally has one of them? The left side is a problem but that's somewhat self-inflicted by not bringing a proper LB.

Mane/Salah are obviously clear yes but it's not a landslide. You don't need to be 1=1 with Liverpool to find success with a similar style, Saka and Gordon are stylistically similar and good enough to produce results, especially against the majority of the teams England faced in terms of quality.

"utilized the strength of their midfielders instead of just wishing they were something they are not." This is why they went to get guys like Thiago and Macallister even Szobowhatever is supposed to be able to do it. Klopp knew you gotta have creative midfielders you can't rely on the front 3 creating for themselves.

Thiago was a shift (but didn't work out), but MacAllister and Szobo are weird to bring up in this context as they're both hard working B2B players with little creativity to their game, typical Klopp players really and far from the ball-playing creators like Thiago or the Spanish midfielders.

Klopp definitely tried to shift the team in later years because - according to reports - they wanted to control games more to lessen the physical burden on the players.

But the fact is, they won everything with 3 grafters in midfielders.

Why do you think City have been more successful in the same time? They go for creativity and ball players in every midfield position.

Because they spent about twice the amount of money Liverpool did, come on. Guardiola is a genius and his brand of football, suffocatingly boring as it is to watch, is much more consistent across a 38 game season but we're not talking about a league here but a knockout cup tournament, something Klopp has been very succesful at during his career.

In fact, Klopp actually leads in his head to head with Guardiola, 12 to 11.