Declan Rice

[Vesper 30,081]

1 hour ago, R2D2 said:

Might be better if we wait until next season, who knows if Lampard will even be here, if he goes were stuck with this guy.

Rice is so not dependent on Lampard to be a great player

this is not some Sarri/Jorginho situ

[MoroccanBlue 5,375]

@Vesper What's the TL;DR version 

[Vesper 30,081]

17 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

@Vesper What's the TL;DR version 

buy him

we need a proper DMF

and if we want him ultimately at CB

then buy Zakaria next summer and slide Rice to CB on a staggered glidepath as Zakaria is integrated

then buy a double pivot roamer partner for Zakaria to take Kante's slot, if Kante still has not went back to form

the other way to do it is to grab Partey now  (Zakaria is too hard a pull atm, but rumours and rumblings say Gladbach will allow him to leave for a fair price next summer)

wait till next season for Rice, who at that point, would be 75% a CB buy, although Thomas and Declan could easily play a double pivot as well

whether we do buy Partey or not (and for me it is this summer or I start to hesitate, as Partey is 28 at the end of this coming spring, so only 3 or maybe 4 prime years left if we buy him in summer 2021)

we still need to buy a roamer type too, to pair with Rice or Zakaria or Partey

that list is simple

Camavinga, or if he is impossible, then Boubacar Kamara or Bruno Guimarães or Ismaël Bennacer or finally the last of these 5 for me in terms of my preference, Boubakary Soumaré

 

[Jase 43,479]

57 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

If we are going to move Jorginho on for Rice that is probably as close to undoing some of the good work of this window in terms of squad building we will get.

Personally I know many wont be thrilled to watch Rice passing it sideways 90% of the time and small teams just letting us have the ball because he isnt progressive enough to play through the lines. Also under pressure he isnt great so imagine him v a City or a Liverpool? Unlike Jorginho. Unlike Kovacic. Even unlike Kante. So if Frank goes to this heralded 433 like City played last season, which many believe with Rice holding, Havertz and Mount more offensive, does that mean those two will have to come a lot lot deeper to get the ball out of our own half into the more forward players? Unlike at City where De Bruyne and Silva where always positioned in half spaces because Rodri and Fernandinho could find them further up and find other players also?

You talked as if Jorginho doesn't pass sideways or backwards...

[OneMoSalah 8,883]

8 minutes ago, Jason said:

You talked as if Jorginho doesn't pass sideways or backwards...

Obviously. All midfielders do at some point but the high percentages of Jorginho’s passes are forward and he normally plays one or two touches when he can. Plus when he plays our ability to get up the pitch quicker is clear to see. Rice’s passing isnt as progressive and quite frankly dont see how he improves our team in all reality. All he does is add height but still, take more than 11 6 ft plus players to sort our defending set pieces. 

[Jase 43,479]

1 minute ago, OneMoSalah said:

Obviously. All midfielders do at some point but the high percentages of Jorginho’s passes are forward and he normally plays one or two touches.

Any stat to back that up? Because Opta have this on Jorginho in the Premier League last season...

[MoroccanBlue 5,375]

18 minutes ago, Jason said:

Any stat to back that up? Because Opta have this on Jorginho in the Premier League last season...

 

What's Rice?

[OneMoSalah 8,883]

20 minutes ago, Jason said:

Any stat to back that up? Because Opta have this on Jorginho in the Premier League last season...

I had seen Something on twitter from before the season ended. Maybe misread it. So he passes left 4.6 percent more than forward. And 2.3% more forward than right. Still. Stats aside. I cant imagine our build up play and getting into the opposition half will be better with Rice there holding than Jorginho if we go for Havertz and Mount as the advanced 8 like everyone seems to believe Frank wants to line up with. Rices tackles, interceptions, recoveries etc would be a boost maybe but again anything over 40-50m and weve been had because he doesn’t particularly offer anything particularly good with the ball and we will have the ball the majority of games, lets be honest. Kante when he’s on song - albeit he’s struggled and needs a back up - he does all that and more also. Rice would add height to the team. 

[Jase 43,479]

4 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

What's Rice?

[Vesper 30,081]

fuck it

 

 

[Vesper 30,081]

Fuck

I am at wit's end.

[YorkshireBlue 3,264]

7 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Fuck

I am at wit's end.

?