What a player!
Declan Rice | Arsenal £105m player
- Thread starter Samid
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The only time I'll believe a player not wanting to celebrate. Rice seems mushy enough to actually care about that ridiculous hand gesture.
Worth every penny 
Great player. He was decent today but don’t think he has much to do to be honest.
I still don't believe their midfield is better this season than last. £100m to go sideways at best.
That’s because they replaced a very good player in Xhaka with a misfit like Havertz.
Well, Partey has been injured pretty much all season.
Some strike today
Havertz hasn't worked out in LCM role but Partey hasn't been available all season. Havertz though has been very good as false 9, with him and Odegaard interchanging and dropping into midfield, almost playing like two 10s. Will be interesting to see how we set up when Partey comes back. Hope Arteta doesn't persist with the formation where Partey was dropping into RB.
IMO the key difference between this and last season is that I think we're just hitting our top form now, after a bit of a blip in Dec/early Jan. Last season we faded at the latter stages, whereas I think we're looking to get stronger now. We also have Partey, Tomiyasu and hopefully Timber to come back for the last 3 months of the season.
I dont think you can say Havertz at LCM is his set or final position. His versatility as a player in midfield, and the specifics he brings to midfield makes him an option there. But because of injuries to Partey, ESR and Timber, we’ve seen Havertz occupy that role more.
Personally I don’t think Havertz was brought in as the direct replacement to Xhaka, they are different players. Arsenal were linked with Gundogan, D Luiz and Mount before Kai, and I think they were more like for like.
A clue as to Kai’s main role for Arsenal this season was the Community Shield lineup, where Arsenal lined Kai up at the top of a diamond midfield, with him acting as the second striker. In that system you saw Havertz, with Rice and Odegaard as the 8s and Partey as the 6. This allowed Kai more freedom to roam into spaces and use his movement to drag players out of shape and attack opened spaces.
We’ll see more of Arsenal’s intended shape once Timber, Partey return. With Havertz probably moving away from midfield altogether.
Yeh I think you're right. And Havertz's best games for us have definitely been when he's up front, dropping into midfield from time to time then finding space and driving forward. His versatility is very useful and why I've probably been more patient with him than most. Even today, he had no direct goal contributions but he was right next to Gabriel and Saliba for their goals, causing headaches for West Ham with his height and physicality.
Anyone sick of the over the top no celebrations when scoring against a former club. Eg Rice, Richarlison... Just do a calm high five to your teammates instead of looking guilty like you've just killed somebody.
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Haha totally agree, especially when you've just pinged it in the top corner from 30 yards! He looked like he was preparing to commit seppuku.
Named Football London’s Premier League Player of the Year.
I don’t know what the award is either, I assume it’s just an award for London Clubs?
https://x.com/arsenal/status/1763318042769883203?s=46
I don’t know what the award is either, I assume it’s just an award for London Clubs?
https://x.com/arsenal/status/1763318042769883203?s=46
I remember reading that most of the United fans thought Caicedo was better than Rice 
Funnily enough - United supporters are quite bad at rating players (the over loving for Sancho at Dortmund, Caicedo over Rice, laughing at John Stones moving to Manchester City & so many more) - yet when the club themselves makes the mistake of going for these players themselves then the fans pretend like they never wanted them and brush away past memories.
Funnily enough - United supporters are quite bad at rating players (the over loving for Sancho at Dortmund, Caicedo over Rice, laughing at John Stones moving to Manchester City & so many more) - yet when the club themselves makes the mistake of going for these players themselves then the fans pretend like they never wanted them and brush away past memories.
There's still a great player in Caicedo, he's just in one of the worst environments in the Premier League. If Rice had gone to Chelsea instead I bet he wouldn't look so great either!
I disagree in terms of Rice. I think he is the type of player that would look good in any team because he's a very simple footballer. That's not a bad thing either, I still think teams need those types of workhorses and he excels at the job he does.
Caicedo has been very good for months. The narrative around him is the weirdest I've seen in a long time. The price tag plus the rough start to the season has basically snowballed into people talking about him as if he's been horrific this season, and now it's like people just watch him through the lens of the narrative they already have in their heads.
I've seen matchday threads on this forum where he's having a good game but all the comments are basically micro analysing little mis controls and a late tackles etc. I've seen his thread get bumped after a good game but people just laughing at him as if they just watched a completely different game to the one that actually happened.
Exactly the same happens on here to be fair. Once a narrative gets embedded, it's hard to shake with online fans. Without exaggeration there was a period when every goal we concede Onana "could" have saved, Bruno gets it with his passing, Antony just in every breath he takes, every move he makes, the caf is watching him.
I still think the Lavia, Caicedo, Enzo trio will become elite in a few years. Has a good balance to it on paper.
Caicedo signed for Liverpool, and still ended up at Chelsea. That's how poor his positioning sense is.
Basically Havertz...
Very trueI remember reading that most of the United fans thought Caicedo was better than Rice
Funnily enough - United supporters are quite bad at rating players (the over loving for Sancho at Dortmund, Caicedo over Rice, laughing at John Stones moving to Manchester City & so many more) - yet when the club themselves makes the mistake of going for these players themselves then the fans pretend like they never wanted them and brush away past memories.
.Same with managers on redcafeI remember reading that most of the United fans thought Caicedo was better than Rice
Funnily enough - United supporters are quite bad at rating players (the over loving for Sancho at Dortmund, Caicedo over Rice, laughing at John Stones moving to Manchester City & so many more) - yet when the club themselves makes the mistake of going for these players themselves then the fans pretend like they never wanted them and brush away past memories.
Another goal, starting to feel like a bargain now.
Didn't think he'd be able to make the step up personally. How wrong was I
There is a reason Pep also wanted him. Imagine him and Rodri in City's midfield.
Running out of ways to describe Rice. He seems to be turning into the complete midfielder under Arteta. He now has 11 goal contributions (6 goals, 5 assists) in the league, on top of all the interceptions and defensive work he does. Physically strong, mentally even stronger.
His passing is still his biggest weakness but it doesn't seem to matter to arsenal. Still not convinced he work at united the way we play. We'd ask too much of him, like we ask to much of Casemiro.There is a reason Pep also wanted him. Imagine him and Rodri in City's midfield.
Running out of ways to describe Rice. He seems to be turning into the complete midfielder under Arteta. He now has 11 goal contributions (6 goals, 5 assists) in the league, on top of all the interceptions and defensive work he does. Physically strong, mentally even stronger.
He's just getting started in this more advanced role. I agree his passing still needs improvement but I have little doubt Arteta will improve that too. He has the vision, reading of the game and technical security. Very intelligent player. Also, he and Jorginho right now seem perfectly balanced - Jorginho has the passing quality Rice may lack, while Rice has the physicality and stamina Jorginho lacks.
With all due respect, not sure what you mean by "not convinced he work at united the way we play"... how exactly do you play that Rice wouldn't improve you immediately? Think he'd be a huge step up from Casemiro who's on his last legs. Rice would plug 70% of that gaping hole that always seems to be in your midfield.
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Have to eat some humble pie when it comes to Rice. Arsenal look a more complete team with him this season. Not necessarily "better", but more well rounded and assured, but that could also be the experience of the title race last season I guess.
Will sound a bit weird given they've been banging them in recently, but if Arsenal had managed to sign a clinical striker in the summer they'd surely be even further ahead of Pool and City?
There was that awkward spell when they lost at home to West Ham and a few other funny results where Jesus couldn't hit the target for his life.
If they don't win it, they'll have to look at that wobble because they look to be peaking at just the right time and with Rice in that squad, I'd have a lot more confidence they wouldn't crumble like they did last season.
Will sound a bit weird given they've been banging them in recently, but if Arsenal had managed to sign a clinical striker in the summer they'd surely be even further ahead of Pool and City?
There was that awkward spell when they lost at home to West Ham and a few other funny results where Jesus couldn't hit the target for his life.
If they don't win it, they'll have to look at that wobble because they look to be peaking at just the right time and with Rice in that squad, I'd have a lot more confidence they wouldn't crumble like they did last season.
Would stand out like a sore thumb as a weakness in City’s side. You’re overhyping him. We’d do the same thing if we finally had a big money signing that wasn’t a flop. Rice is a very solid player and tidy acquisition. The fee is still a joke but if a player improves a team nowadays it doesn’t matter how much he cost.There is a reason Pep also wanted him. Imagine him and Rodri in City's midfield.
Running out of ways to describe Rice. He seems to be turning into the complete midfielder under Arteta. He now has 11 goal contributions (6 goals, 5 assists) in the league, on top of all the interceptions and defensive work he does. Physically strong, mentally even stronger.
Bit mad how many on here were so massively against him
Much better and shrewd signing than Antony and Sancho combined.
Overpriced but at least he does the job.
Overpriced but at least he does the job.
Worth every penny for the service he'll give them. He'll probably retire there. If you're going to spunk money of huge amounts, certainly a wise way to do it.
He'd be an instant improvement over Casemiro but don't think he'll have the same impact he did for Arsenal. We're still in chaos, can't press and let runners come at our defence / DM quite a bit on the break. He can't really mop up all the attacks by himself and we'd still be conceding quite a few shots.
Ten Hag has a weird obsession with this single DM with no other support (no inverted fullback, no second mid) that makes us insecure on the counter. In possession too, we're far from comfortable and he'd be in the same situation as Casemiro - getting swarmed by 4 players with no immediate passing option next to him.
We'd be better in attack too with his set pieces and if he played alongside Casemiro he'd be a better option in midfield than McTominay whilst having his goals
I doubt his signing would have taken us to the top of the league but I don't think we'd be more than 6-9 points behind where Arsenal are now with him in plus Lisandro and Shaw being available more often this season
Calling Rice a limited player is just bonkers.
Agree that you have other issues in the team you also need to fix. But he still would be a considerable upgrade on Casemiro right now. I think with Rice, even leaving him exposed the way you do, he'd still be about a 30% improvement on what Casemiro is giving you in terms of ground he can cover, duels won, interceptions etc.
I agree. He is top class
Before he moved to Arsenal, about 80% of the caf claimed he was over rated
We expect casemiro to be a playmaker when we have the ball, we'd expect the same of rice and his passing isn't there yet. We also leave casemiro on a island defensively and he constantly has 2 or 3 players running at him in transition when we lose the ball.
The way our midfield is set up is madness. I'm not sure what profile of player we need to make it work. It isn't a criticism of rice as much as it is out set up. I don't think anyone would look great in it.