All things Football

@aliftbll2 He thrives in transitional games. Arsenal play way too slow to get the best out of Eze.

He’s one of the most talented players itl, just up the intensity man. Demand the ball more

@Toytweets_ This is a guy that got sold at Norwich for taking a penalty away from a designated penalty taker and missing. Hes got an ego it seems.

Passed the minerals test with flying colours

@WeNeverStop88 @AHayer16 Never said they were but those are the profiles to compare rice to. He’s the best in the world at what he does.

@Luv4Footy @AHayer16 Caicedo and Onana aren’t world class either. 👍

Again, if you’re expecting Declan Rice to play like Rodri/Pedri/Vitinha/Neves, he’s good enough to do it, but that’s not what makes him elite. Ask him to sit as a holding midfielder, break up play and keep the game moving, and he’s arguably the best in the world. Ask him to play box-to-box and contribute in every phase of the game, and he’s comfortably among the best in his position. It’s not difficult to identify his strengths. Expecting him to excel at the things he’s simply just good at, rather than the things he’s exceptional at, completely misses the point. And while we’re talking about world class, Declan Rice has transformed Arsenal’s midfield almost single-handedly, won the Premier League, reached a Champions League final, and made over 230 appearances across the last four seasons. He’s always available, consistently performs, and very rarely has a bad game. To top it off, he played through this World Cup carrying back and knee injuries after a 60+ game season. That level of durability and consistency is elite.

@WeNeverStop88 @AHayer16 He’s a world class destroyer. Compare him to Caicedo and onana not Vitinha

@AHayer16 Nobody’s saying he isn’t a very good player, he’s not world class tho.

@KingFisher1144 @mark_robson10 @famzonetv They usually excel in duel winning, interceptions, killing transitions and can cover ground. Aim is to break up attacks and protect the back 4. Caicedo, Onana to name a few.

@Luv4Footy @mark_robson10 @famzonetv Define destroyer and explain to me how he’s better than all of them…

Absolute Nonsense! Declan Rice is the most consistent player in world football. Simple as that

@Spirit_Handle @Sinoy786 Just giving you data that backs the signing. £34m for the 8th best winger in champions league. Great market opportunity, can always sell without losing too much value if it doesn’t work out

@Luv4Footy @Sinoy786 This is suppose to be a Flex?

What does Tzolis have over Gakpo that’ll make him translate to the prem better. Both got a lot of g/a cause of their ball striking in a shit league

@SVCarbaholic £34m I’ll stop there. x.com/gradient_sport…

His technical fundamentals are very clean. Nice first touch, can manipulate under pressure. Very Trossard-like. Unsure about how his physical qualities translate to the PL but for £35m let’s see. Feels like they put Trossard replacement into ChatGPT & came back with him 😂

@Spirit_Handle @Sinoy786 x.com/gradient_sport…

@Luv4Footy @Sinoy786 Lmao yeah no differencies.aside the Fact TZOLIS PLAYED IN SHIT LEAGUE AND UCL Teams he played werent that good. Not even Barca and they high line Defending 🤡

@ZafeirZ_ @stoiczy @cityzenken_ £34 million great British x.com/gradient_sport…

@stoiczy @cityzenken_ And then you realize he's a system fraud that also happened to be a level above the defense he's gone against. Trust me he's not even a real winger, go enjoy your tzolis while we grow monga

You wants us to believe this guy with this insane stats costs just €40M? FA better investigate Arsenal right now.

@Tezskii He’s a world class destroyer. Stop expecting him to be Iniesta. Compare him to other destroyers in the game. Name one that’s better.

Can’t believe I agree with UNC but yeah man, what happens when the media create a narrative that Rice could be the next ‘Yaya’ when in another world he’s one of the best centre backs in the world. Doesn’t help when his club manager plays him in the half space like Iniesta

@dankoogs £34m pounds. x.com/gradient_sport…

I think I can get behind this signing. He definitely lacks 1v1 ability BUT in the final 3rd he seems incredibly composed will often try and "find" a teammate rather than just spam something + ability to create separation for a cross or shot is good and defo a level above Gyok.

@Rhys_Padan @_barto1 First 6 months we still broke open games with set pieces. Football wasn’t penetrative we did horse shoe of death in many games. And when we lost the ball we had the legs to win it back which faded as the season progressed and players got tired. Rice, Bruno G / MLS is good balance

@Luv4Footy @_barto1 For the first 6 months we didn’t have any ball handlers we had Eze and Zubi we played brilliant football. I agree he needs a better ball handler but that’s cuz he’s 7/10 on the ball and we need a 8/9 out of 10 of the ball same with England. That’s not a Zubi and that’s not a EA

Not a single word he says is incorrect. If they were half as good as we're led to belive, they'd have bossed that 2nd half. I've seen Tom Davies (twice) and Andre Gomes boss the midfield against Declan Rice. Its astounding how highly rated he is. Anderson is even less impressive.

@GOAT122122 @SeanySpaces What does value have to do with profiles. It’s a poor profile balance. No competent midfield plays 3 destroyer type miss. All average at ball playing. Barcelona under pep played with none. Rice, Wharton and Scott is a better profile balance. Play one of rice for Anderson / Jude.

There’s a handful of players in the history of the game more qualified than Souness to be giving this opinion People don’t realise; every word is spot on.

@Waynqueslfc Rice Wharton Alex Scott is a much more balanced midfield 3. Stop singling out rice and platform him property next to two good ball handlers. Hes a world class destroyer not ball handler. Anderson, Jude and rice are all average ball players.

The day England can create a Busquets, a Xavi, a Rodri, is the day England will win a big trophy like the Euros or World Cup. Unfortunately the football culture in England priorities athleticism and size over technical ability at youth level.

@komzy22 It’s not just Wharton need to think about the midfield collectively. If you want to play a world class destroyer like rice that’s limited on the ball then have two top ball handlers next to him. Can’t have Jude, rice and Anderson and expect good football. All similar profiles

Rice and Anderson too similar to be playing pivot. Either of them with Wharton and it would be a whole different story

@Rhys_Padan @_barto1 We played horrid football tbh. Not shaming rice but he has to be partnered with 2 ball handlers in a midfield to get the best out of him. Hes a world class destroyer and should be platformed as such. Rice Odegaard Jorginho gave us much better football.

@_barto1 So tell me something who was the standout midfielder in the title winning team for Arsenal? Everyone doesn’t rate Zubi and he died after December. Myles played 5 games there. We had no natural 10 for majority of the season. And now suddenly rice is one of the worst? Hmmmmmm

@Gunner_rein @RoliTshindane The issue is the technical level around rice. Increase it with more ball playing players and let him do the OOP work. Thats how you get the best of rice. Zubi and Eze are not good enough ball handlers. Jorginho, rice, Odegard produced way better football.

@RoliTshindane He is not press resistant enough to be the lone 6. Might work for some games, but will be found out

Rice is a lone 6. Not a CM in a 2. He should have been made that the minute he got signed at Arsenal. Both his club and intl managers are wasting him by constantly pairing him with someone

@gzjz372212 @kae1enftbl_ Rice has world class OOP traits that should be compensated by having at least 2 other ball handlers next to him to platform him correctly. Best midfields only have one destroyer type max, England has 3 in rice, Anderson and Jude. Pep Barca had none.

@kae1enftbl_ His ceiling is just not that high. Every season we pair him up with someone else to do things he cannot do, but a well rounded DM who does more things is better.

Very very harsh considering he was unfit the whole tournament. We all know Rice is limited on the ball. Anderson was meant to be the partner next to him that could complement him and he was underwhelming in that aspect all tournament

@kae1enftbl_ You can’t have 3 destroyer/OOP type midfielders and expect good football. Rice, Anderson and Jude are all relatively average ball handlers. An elite midfield can only have one max some don’t even have any like Barca under pep

@mark_robson10 @famzonetv Rice is a world class destroyer, he’s not a world class all round midfielder. You don’t have to be good at everything to be world class, imapct on the game determines that. Compare rice to other destroyers in the world he’s better than all. Simple! Stop using blanket statements

@famzonetv no-one is doubting his consistency…but “putting a shift in” consistently 🙄😴 does not put Rice as one of the worlds best midfielders