Good post, agree with almost all of that. Biggest obstacle in signing him is money, it doesn't make sense to pay so much money for Rice.
Very good post. I personally don't think Rice is the best midfielder to ever walk the earth, but he has loads of quality's you would look for in a player that is supposed to play the role he is. And in my book we really need such a player, because there is not a single player in our team who is good at what Rice does for teams. He could be our Rodri or Fabinho, not the most exciting players in the team but vital to the stability of every good midfield. Of course 150mil is not the kind of money you will pay for that kind of midfielder but Moyes and West Ham know that, it's their way of saying "He is not for sale."
Yeah, he is very important player for them, so they will ask for big money. We should sign players like him/Fabinho/Rodri for good fee instead of breaking the bank. Rodri also cost big money but that was at least at lower end compared to what we have to pay for Rice.
There's nearly always a certain slickness and comfort with the ball in Spanish DM's, but obviously greater dividing lines come about when we add all factors that make a good or great DM: positional awareness; decision making; confidence under pressure; instinct (where many get accused of hiding, when in actuality, it's taking them that bit too long to process what's going on and what they should be doing at that precise moment.) and so on and so forth. But by and large, you watch them and the technical acumen is so intrinsic, you don't really give it a second thought unless they are exceptionally good with the ball, you also know every one of them with NT aspirations are aware of the demands that will be placed upon them so even if they play in a negative or lower-possession based team, to make the step up to NT, they have to be able to do a lot more.
Well if we don't, look at other options we are acting highly irresponsible, never a good idea to put all your eggs into one basket. What would also be highly irresponsible is waiting for Rice to come next year and getting no one in to play this role this summer, especially with Matic leaving. Kamara now and then try to go for Rice again next summer or the summer after when he has only one year left on his contract.
Fair enough, can't argue against Spanish midfielders. They have magnet in their boots and chip in their brains. If we can get good Spanish DM then it would be awesome, as like you said they won't cost huge money like Rice, so the risk is not that high.
Yeah, I think Rice won't be sold. He won't get out of West ham for few years. When he finally does it, it will be for Chelsea.
That's the thing waiting why waiting for Rice would be foolish, we have no idea if his preferred destination would even be to play for us, we need a realistic solution this summer and I hope ETH and our recruitment team can sort something out.
I certainly don't think it's Rice or bust, that's for sure. I don't have that 'must buy' feeling with him that I've had with other DM's (like I did with Javi Martinez at Bilbao, for example), and although I think he could go on to thrive and have a great career, I don't think that'll be at a progressive team, or I'd certainly be surprised if it was from what I've seen of him thus far.
For some reason Martín Zubimendi from Real Sociedad goes under the radar. He's an excellent DM and reminds me of Matic in some ways, but more agile and tricky (as he should be, being Spanish). Zubimendi is one of their most important players, and Barcelona are rumoured to have him on their wishlist as a replacement for Busquets. Very, very good player and he's only 23 years old! Definitely think we should be looking at him, and he will be a lot more cheaper than Rice.
Yeah, even I don't think it's Rice or bust, there should be lot of options if we look beyond obvious players.
Cheers
Bayern signed Kimmich, Madrid signed Casemiro. Both of them cost peanuts but they didn't go straight into first 11 or as DM.
I did not see them vs Sevilla, but vs Lyon he 100% gave up midfield and couldn't even begin to win that battle. 32% and 28% possession in those games.
To Leicester not a top 6 club. That’s the difference. Kante doesn’t do what he does if he moved straight to Chelsea for instance. That’s why I said name that scenario.
Just had a quick look at him on youtube, not seen him before. He looks like a really natural player, well balanced, for a youtube video anyway.
The Rodri example is what I’m looking for. I’ve said that in many post above. Kimmich grew into that role.. as they already had quality CMs in his position. Didn’t Casemiro go out on loan and Zidane took a chance on him when he came back? I can’t really remember.
Yeah, Kimmich and Casemiro are not good examples as they didn't fit in right away, but like you said we need to identify the player who has played well and has potential to step up. City and Liverpool have done great job signing players in 24-27 category, players who have enough experience and young enough to play for years.
Exactly this. You can only judge players in the systems they've played in. If you want to use them in a different system then it's up to the football knowledge and talent identification of the coach/scouts to be recognising the transferrable skills of the player and what's not being utilised by his present team that you spot. Like how certain players are midfielders and then played as a defender or a striker then to a midfielder and they become better players. Someone realised they have transferrable skills. Rice may have those but his cost is prohibitive to try that.
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Is he reliable?
Not sure. He's a guy a lot of Chelsea fans trust but I don't follow him enough to know his reliability. He's no Matt Law that's for sure, so I suppose we should add the appropriate levels of salt to this report.
Not a chance in hell west ham sell for 75m. Closer to 150m is what they'd want, probably settle for 120m
Not sure even Chelsea will be willing to pay that... not sure even under the old regime. City and, I guess, Newcastle are the only ones who would definitely be able to spend that spend that and no sign that either of them want him or that he wants to go to either of those. I wonder if we have a player who could be part of a swap deal... Rashford, possibly but not sure he'd want to go to West Ham
well, there are two clubs who could afford that but City show no sign of wanting him and Newcastle's eyes seem to be elsewhere (my bet is in the nest two years they will be looking to sign a top top striker)
