Declan Rice | Switches international allegiance to England four years ago

Walters_19_MuFc

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Matic, although rejuvinated under Ole, isnt getting any younger and at 30, will need replacing in the next season or so.

Declan Rice has been getting rave reviews since being moved to the holding midfield position and his peformances have warranted them.

Could potentially be a long term replacememt for Matic.

What do you think?
 

buckooo1978

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how well does he protect the West Ham defence? it's not like they've been solid at the back have they?

technically what is Rice like? I've rarely seen him but I didn't look at him and think he looked special in term of passing
 

buckooo1978

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I think Herrera showed the season before Matic arrived he can do that role well

we need a playmaker in there - a Carrick style midfielder with good mobility

Matic at the minute seems a waste of a player as he isn't actually great at protecting the defence and his best quality seems to be that he's big

I think Herrera reads the game better as well
 

JohnnyLaw

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We have Herrera unless we upgrade him aswell.
As for the second playmaker or the anchor role?

Personally I don’t like him for the anchor role at all, and I definitely think that we can do better than him for the number 8 spot although I like him and believe he should stay.
 

Walters_19_MuFc

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People saying we need a playmaker, and whilst I agree, with the way we've been playing so far, we seem to have two dogged defensive midfielders, which allows our front three + Pogba to roam.

After the Cardiff game, Ole said “It’s not always going to happen like it did [at Cardiff] but you have to try and create chances and grind it out, but it worked and with the blistering pace we have up front I don’t think any team would like to have Martial, Pogba, Lingard and Rashford running at them.

"So why should we stop them? The attacking philosophy is in the walls of Man United. That’s tradition, that’s history, that’s how we play and want to play.”


With a playmaker, we may keep the ball better, but it means we may not have the protection a ball winning defensive midfielder will give us, thus being easier to play through.

I think having a playmaking option on the bench would be a good choice if we need a goal.

That said, if we can get a player like Fernandinho who is capable of both, then even better.
 
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As for the second playmaker or the anchor role?

Personally I don’t like him for the anchor role at all, and I definitely think that we can do better than him for the number 8 spot although I like him and believe he should stay.
As in Herrera for the box to box role - matic should be replaced with a DLP.
 

Kostur

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Looks quite average to me from what I've seen. It's like his biggest strengths are his age, physical qualities and that's about it. No idea how he develops though but with our defence at the moment we're in no place to replace a #6 with somebody with 'potential' or who can develop in some years.
 

starman

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I like him, been impressed with him since last season. Doesn't do anything spectacular but he is very good at reading the game.
 

MadDogg

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If we’re using a three man midfield then there’s still room for a playmaker next to Pogba with someone like Rice shielding.
We'd likely be better off using a deep-lying playmaker like Carrick or Pirlo in the deeper role. Somebody who can control the team around while also having the defensive positioning to be able to do their share of defensive work. Then we use Herrera next to them to do the majority of the leg work.
 

yumtum

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He shouldn't have signed the new contract, he'd have had a tasty signing on bonus if he had moved to Chelsea, City or United (home grown players are always welcome).
 

JohnnyLaw

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As in Herrera for the box to box role - matic should be replaced with a DLP.
We'd likely be better off using a deep-lying playmaker like Carrick or Pirlo in the deeper role. Somebody who can control the team around while also having the defensive positioning to be able to do their share of defensive work. Then we use Herrera next to them to do the majority of the leg work.
I think people might be becoming a bit too drawn into the idea of the deep lying playmaker. We also have Pereira and Gomes coming through who’d do well doing the dictating play with someone covering behind them. There’s no reason why we have to have a DPL, Real Madrid won three champions leagues with the playmakers Kroos and Modric playing in front of Casemiro who is capable but not outstanding in his passing. Liverpool hasn’t had one either and don’t appear to be clamouring for one.
 

MadDogg

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I think people might be becoming a bit too drawn into the idea of the deep lying playmaker. We also have Pereira and Gomes coming through who’d do well doing the dictating play with someone covering behind them. There’s no reason why we have to have a DPL, Real Madrid won three champions leagues with the playmakers Kroos and Modric playing in front of Casemiro who is capable but not outstanding in his passing. Liverpool hasn’t had one either and don’t appear to be clamouring for one.
It can be done either way. You can have a pure defensive player sitting back with two players in front of him doing more of the playmaking duties, or a deep-lying playmaker sitting back and a workhorse next to him providing the legs.

Personally I do prefer the latter, but more importantly it does suit our current players better. We'd only need to buy the one player, as we already have Herrera who is well suited to the workhorse role. It's also the same set-up that Pogba had at Juventus. The other way we'd probably have to buy two players now, as Pereira likely isn't going to make it and Gomes isn't ready yet.

Of course, the ideal would probably be having all three of them being fairly good at controlling the team around (similar to how Pep normally sets up).
 

POF

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He is a real talent. Interesting comments from Mick McCarthy that Southgate sees him as a centre back. It would suggest a longer path to be in the England team. I am clutching at every possible straw!

Eric Dier is a very obvious comparison. He is a very similar type player. It's far too early for him to move to a big club just now but he is getting better every week. West Ham are an improving team with some really talented attackers and Rice is already one of their best players.
 

POF

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Different class to Dier on the ball. Weird comparison.
I don't think it is. Eric Dier has been a regular in midfield for a top 4 EPL team and his national team. Rice is a promising kid and shows great potential but he has a way to go before he's rated as highly as Dier.
 

RochaRoja

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I just don't think their styles are that similar. Rice looks more comfortable in possession than Dier ever has.
 

Mr Smith

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We should definitely monitor him. I don't think we've seen enough of him to know if he could rise to to this level, but there's definitely potential there.
 

Andersonson

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People wouldve wanted him if his name was cooler. The kid looks the real deal. Maybe he's the next star from the West ham academy
 

Crashoutcassius

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Looks very good and no reason he couldn't play further up the pitch as a Herrera replacement?

Would probably cost 50m although he still hasn't signed a contract has he?

Generally agree that we need a play maker deeper, Matic has been a good playmaker since Ole came but we could upgrade that
 

HNK55

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I thought it was the media that used to hype English players after a couple of good games. There is no way he is good enough to start for a big club.
 

Thunderhead

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I think he’s class. Could actually see him ending up at Man City maybe as Fernandinho long term replacement
Yep, I'd like him to replace him too, always been impressed with him and he can fill in at CB too
 

He'lmurderyah15

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Should have got in before he signed the long term deal and used one of the lads that are out of contract as part of the deal. I'm sure West Ham would have considered Phil Jones plus 10 million if Rice hadn't signed a contract. You won't get him out of West Ham for under 50 million now. Top player though will be at a top 6 club in next 2 years, my guess will be replacing Fernandinho at City
 

Eire Red United

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Looks very good and no reason he couldn't play further up the pitch as a Herrera replacement?

Would probably cost 50m although he still hasn't signed a contract has he?

Generally agree that we need a play maker deeper, Matic has been a good playmaker since Ole came but we could upgrade that
Definitely should try to get him on board, but think he has signed that new deal at West Ham.
 

Eire Red United

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I thought it was the media that used to hype English players after a couple of good games. There is no way he is good enough to start for a big club.
Maybe not yet but there’s definitely potential there, looked class yesterday from what I saw and what a finish for the goal.