[Rojofiam]

At the euros I thought he was. Certainly better than Rice. In fairness it's a low bar

Rice is the best #6 in the world. What exactly are you on about?

 

[Remember the geese]

Rice is the best #6 in the world.

No, he isn't.

 

[Rojofiam]

No, he isn't.

Who is, then?

 

[TheReligion]

37 passes, 6 fouls and 1 successful tackle for a Manchester United midfielder against League 1 opposition? If that’s a standard you think is good enough then you must have really enjoyed the past the decade of irrelevance.

In the real world, he’ll need to do a lot better then that going forward. Hopefully that will start tomorrow at Palace.

So is it a worryingly poor debut or not then? You seem confused.

 

[Stobzilla]

Who is, then?

Rodri, by a billion miles as well.

 

[Rojofiam]

Rodri, by a billion miles as well.

Rodri has the fraction of the defensive responsibilities of other defensive midfielders at other top clubs, Rice included. Has been basically playing as an #8 for City for more than 2 seasons now. He's one of the best #8s out there, potentially the best, but needs a lot of protection and defensive help. Defensively, Rice is easily better than Rodri. And probably a better ball carrier too, but going forward, Rodri is obviously in ahead of most other aspects.

 

[AdNani]

Oh dear, oh dear.

Unless he very quickly learns the difference between a foul and a tackle he is going to be a real liability.

One of the weirdest things about this forum is peoples eagerness to stick the boot in on new signings

Rodri has the fraction of the defensive responsibilities of other defensive midfielders at other top clubs, Rice included. Has been basically playing as an #8 for City for more than 2 seasons now. He's one of the best #8s out there, potentially the best, but needs a lot of protection and defensive help. Defensively, Rice is easily better than Rodri. And probably a better ball carrier too, but going forward, Rodri is obviously in ahead of most other aspects.

no Rodri is just absolutely better in every way.

 

[andersj]

Rodri has the fraction of the defensive responsibilities of other defensive midfielders at other top clubs, Rice included. Has been basically playing as an #8 for City for more than 2 seasons now. He's one of the best #8s out there, potentially the best, but needs a lot of protection and defensive help. Defensively, Rice is easily better than Rodri.

Rodri made, on average, 7,21 ball recoveries per 90 min in the PL in 23/24. Declan Rice is at 4,97 in the same period of time.

On average Man City makes 45,6 recoveries per 90 min. In other words, Rodri makes 15,8 pst of team average. Arsenal makes 46,1 per 90 minutes. Rice, in other words, was at 10,8 pst of his team average.

The wannabehipster notion that Rodri is not a 6 is funny considering how often Rice was, in fact, not a 6 for Arsenal. The fact that Rodri is less responsible without the ball than Rice is just factually wrong.

 

[Remember the geese]

Who is, then?

Rodri, obviously. Rice doesn't even play as a 6 half the time.

 

[glazed]

Rice is the best #6 in the world. What exactly are you on about?

He's world class for sure but best in world is quite high praise. I didn't think he shone in the euros, but then nobody in the England team did.

 

[FrankWhite]

So is it a worryingly poor debut or not then? You seem confused.

Definitely not worryingly poor. He did a lot of things right but it was also clear that his timely on defensive challenges was off. I'd personally put it down to new league and a of preseaon.

 

[Stringer]

Rodri has the fraction of the defensive responsibilities of other defensive midfielders at other top clubs, Rice included. Has been basically playing as an #8 for City for more than 2 seasons now. He's one of the best #8s out there, potentially the best, but needs a lot of protection and defensive help. Defensively, Rice is easily better than Rodri. And probably a better ball carrier too, but going forward, Rodri is obviously in ahead of most other aspects.