Declan Rice

Kane is 30. You need more than short term success to be worth it at that price. Kane is only successful if they win the CL. Otherwise they can replace him with whoever and they'll still win the Bundesliga every year by default basically (also with Kane now they aren't even top...).

Rice has given Arsenal a lot more dominance in games than Partey, come on. They're actually excellent defensively (generally speaking). A big part of that is rice being in there to give them more control.
I was more making a point than defending the Kane transfer, I think Bellingham then would be a better example.

Has he though? I feel like people have short memories, as last year Arsenal fans were saying how pivotal Partey was to the defensive game - that's why everyone wanted a player in that position that could stay fit. Not only that, we were also told he would be an 8 as well (hence why the fee wasn't overprice) which he demonstrably is not.

I get he plays an important role, covering space so they can play higher up the pitch, but he also is so boring on the ball. I just don't think he'll ever be the world's best in that position, as you claimed in another post, with that deficiency in his game.
 
He's doing his job and doing it efficiently as usual.

Problem is in a game like this his job isn't really enough. Or not needed so much.

2 down trying to break a lesser team down and he's not really involved in that effort.

This is why you don't spend £100 million on this kind of DM. You spend that on a goalscorer.
I agree, aside from the goal scorer part, I would happily spend it on a central midfielder and not a goal scorer.
 
Nah. A player like him is imperative for the best clubs. He's the type who helps you dominate every game, cuts out opposition counters more often, pushes you higher up the pitch and the opposition further back as a result. Take him out and Arsenal are much more open and west Ham are having a lot more of the game than just 26% possession and a handful of shots in the game.
Manchester United didn't have Rice and had just as much possession vs West Ham and West Ham had few shots. Arsenal's dominance of possession and West Ham havjng few shots to night had little to do with him. Just everything to do with their tactics
 
[/QUOTE]
I agree, aside from the goal scorer part, I would happily spend it on a central midfielder and not a goal scorer.

Yeah I meant in Arsenal's situation, £100 million should have been spent on a CF who gets you 30 goals. That wins them the league.

But generally agree, a complete midfielder can be worth £100 million.
 
Manchester United didn't have Rice and had just as much possession vs West Ham and West Ham had few shots. Arsenal's dominance of possesion and West Ham havjng few shots to night had little to do with him. Just everything to do with their tactics
I honestly do not know a top team who has a player like Rice.
 
Apparently they’ve conceded more this year so do they have a lot more possession than last season? How are we quantifying this extra dominance because in fairness, Arsenal last season were pretty fecking good.
Conceded more, scored less, less pts won. Dominance alright

Almost as if there's desperation for a great English midfielder during a barren period that he has to be gassed up as more than he is, instead of the simple truth that he is a good consistent player with pretty limited skillset
 
Conceded more, scored less, less pts won. Dominance alright

Almost as if there's desperation for a great English midfielder during a barren period that he has to be gassed up as more than he is, instead of the simple truth that he is a good consistent player with pretty limited skillset
I'm not English, no reason to want him to be good, I just think he's a quality DM
 
Kane is 30. You need more than short term success to be worth it at that price. Kane is only successful if they win the CL. Otherwise they can replace him with whoever and they'll still win the Bundesliga every year by default basically (also with Kane now they aren't even top...).

Man city can win the league and have won the league without a striker or without KdB. So whatever Haaland and KdB cost Citeh is not worth it
 
Man city can win the league and have won the league without a striker or without KdB. So whatever Haaland and KdB cost Citeh is not worth it
Not really the same when you buy a player in the early to mid 20s vs a 30 year old.
 
He was anonymous again, for the money spent you’d be expecting a lot more in these games.
 
Not seen the game today, but he's the kind of player who's gonna look a lot better in a team that functions and is winning, but when it's not quite happening, you realise how little he actually offers.

It's not a massive slight on him, because what he does offer, he does it very well (energy, covers a lot of ground). He's just not a top top player. He's limited.
 
How anyone can watch that game and think Rice is an issue for thid Arsenal team is beyond me, they absolutely dominated Liverpool and only inept forward play stopped them winning by a few goals
Problem today was Arsenal not scoring goals but to say Arsenal dominated midfield is not true even if Arsenal were better there. However, we all saw that when Jorginho went out Arsenal midfield imploded.

This was typical Rice game. Sidways and backwards. Nothing extra.
 
How anyone can watch that game and think Rice is an issue for thid Arsenal team is beyond me, they absolutely dominated Liverpool and only inept forward play stopped them winning by a few goals
Liverpool players had a field day running into the gap left in midfield by Rice dropping too deep and / or being behind play was ridiculous. There was one pass from Saliba to Martinelli that was a last resort because Rice dropped back beside the CBs looking for the ball that took away any option to progress through midfield.
 
I think the issue is that Liverpool didn't even have a midfield today, so they were expected to dominate the game especially at home. And he didn't do much.
 
That’s my point though. For £100m odds you would be expecting exactly that type of player.
Not in today's market. Look at Caceido. He and Rice make up 2 of the 5 most expensive PL transfers.

I think the issue is that Liverpool didn't even have a midfield today, so they were expected to dominate the game especially at home. And he didn't do much.
Didn't watch the full game just saw some highlights. Think we dominated the first half and should have been ahead. Then when we conceded we just fell apart. We definitely created enough to win this game, but it's just not going in for us right now. Need a finisher in the team. Think this has to be the priority in transfer market.
 
If they wanted a player running about they should have bought McT he was available for half the money.
 
If they wanted a player running about they should have bought McT he was available for half the money.
You mean 1/3 of the money. Agree with the rest. It is absolutely insane they paid 100 mil for this. That is United Bought Antony level of stupid :)
 
If they wanted a player running about they should have bought McT he was available for half the money.
I have always said. Those 100m midfielder signings in Premier League this year are not more valuable than McTominay. Different qualities depending on their roles but as a whole no difference. We would have been stupid selling for 30m when we see what others team got for their players.
 
Hype around Rice is mental. He's a good midfield player, better than anything we have. But, if he was born 20 years earlier he wouldn't have made the England squad, never mind team, or be at Arsenal and get raved about as the best thing since sliced bread.

He's no Vieria, Fabregas, Petit or Gilberto so Arsenal wouldn't have wanted him. And with Scholes, Lampard, Gerrard, Carrick and Hargreaves around he'd be nowhere near an England shirt.

He's a very lucky boy that he has come around when there is such a paucity of talent in midfielders that the likes of McTominay get years at United, and Kalvin Phillips is an England international.
 
You mean 1/3 of the money. Agree with the rest. It is absolutely insane they paid 100 mil for this. That is United Bought Antony level of stupid :)
Sorry but comparing to Antony is ridiculous. Antony is a £30mil player at most, coming from a much poorer league. Rice was never going to go for under £60-70mil. He's an England international and has been one of the best midfielders in the league for years. We overpaid by £30-40mil while United overpaid by about £60.
 
Problem today was Arsenal not scoring goals but to say Arsenal dominated midfield is not true even if Arsenal were better there. However, we all saw that when Jorginho went out Arsenal midfield imploded.

This was typical Rice game. Sidways and backwards. Nothing extra.

Didn't watch today, but Rice literally has more completed progressive passes to his name than every other Premier League player this season. A progressive pass being one that travels at least 10 yards forwards.

He's on 184. Our Bruno is second on 177, then it's Rodri with 162.

Sideways and backwards is not his typical game at all.
 
Didn't watch today, but Rice literally has more completed progressive passes to his name than every other Premier League player this season. A progressive pass being one that travels at least 10 yards forwards.

He's on 184. Our Bruno is second on 177, then it's Rodri with 162.

Sideways and backwards is not his typical game at all.
Every pass is forward when he sits so deep. Enzo Fernandez is just as bad
 
Didn't watch today, but Rice literally has more completed progressive passes to his name than every other Premier League player this season. A progressive pass being one that travels at least 10 yards forwards.

He's on 184. Our Bruno is second on 177, then it's Rodri with 162.

Sideways and backwards is not his typical game at all.
Progressive passes and all that nonsens has nothing to do with reality and how games are played. According to that it would mean that he is better than Fernandes or Rodri which is in my view ridiculous. There are lot of things to consider.

I would easy say that sideways and backwards are his game. It doesn't have to be bad. People need to understand that. What it means is that you can find those kind of players in pretty much every Premier League club and in so called defensive midfielder. To give 100+ m for that? Come on.
 
I think Rice performing so poorly in the past month has indirectly led to me ordering an unnecessary rice cooker. Prick.
 
Not sure how people can watch us in the last few games and think Rice is our problem. We cannot hit a barn door at the moment and need to get a finisher in the team, quick. Bar the woeful performance against Fulham, we created enough chances against West Ham and Liverpool today to get something out of both games, or at the very least score a couple of goals.
 
The obsessive counting of irrelevant or overly-regarded statistics is a quirk of modern life.

We used to see the statistics that used to say that Rice had the most 'progressive carries' in Europe when he was at West Ham. After a while the questions moved to:

a) well, where's he starting from?
b) where's he going to?
c) what does it actually lead to?
d) would we be better off quickly passing the ball forward instead of holding onto it, which is what we do now?