Declan Rice

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charlenefan

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If a DM/CM is prioritised in the summer this lad ain't it
 

RedDevilRoshi

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Hopefully Tuchel spends age evaluating the squad. I’d be in for Rice but you’d imagine we aren’t top of Moyes Christmas card list and we’d get rinsed which is never a good time. Remember being quoted 40 something million for longstaff. Jaysus
So glad we didn’t bow down to that as he’s turned out to be nothing other than average since our links with him.

We are more than likely going to get quoted double that for Rice. West Ham will no doubt want “Harry Maguire money” especially when he’s still got a couple of years left on his current contract.
 

Mainoldo

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So glad we didn’t bow down to that as he’s turned out to be nothing other than average since our links with him.

We are more than likely going to get quoted double that for Rice. West Ham will no doubt want “Harry Maguire money” especially when he’s still got a couple of years left on his current contract.
In this financial time no one is getting Maguire money. £50m max should get him and I’m sure that would include instalments. So good business.
 

RedDevilRoshi

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In this financial time no one is getting Maguire money. £50m max should get him and I’m sure that would include instalments. So good business.
Dortmund demanded €120M for Sancho in the summer. Clubs are going to always demand huge top dollar for their prized assets even when the financial climate is pretty grim as we seen last summer when we tried to sign Sancho. Especially when we are involved and desperate for the player, the selling club are no doubt going to inflate the asking price and try to milk as much money out of us as possible. If we or any other buying club don’t cough up, they ain’t gonna give a monkeys as it’s their player at the end of the day unless they badly want rid of that player or he desperately doesn’t want to stay.

Thing is, West Ham probably aren’t in a desperate need to sell, especially a player who has still got 3 years plus an option for an additional year left on his deal. Unless Rice puts in a transfer request and demands to leave etc, I just can’t see West Ham snapping our hands off for £50M for such a huge important player to them unless Rice makes it clear to them that he wants to leave.
 

Pass and Move

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Really hope we don’t go near him. For the base of our midfield, we are crying out for someone who can pass between the lines, and has the intelligence to track the right runners from midfield, not someone who ‘breaks up play’ and then plays the ball out to our full backs. Rice is decent, but with the slow pace of our playing out from the back, we need a playmaker there.
 

wolvored

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In this financial time no one is getting Maguire money. £50m max should get him and I’m sure that would include instalments. So good business.
Why would West Ham sell him? Especially on the 'cheap'. Its not as if hes at the end of his contract and if we are after him proves he is a good player.
 

Andersonson

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I rate him very highly. I watch alot of West Ham games and he is a very very good player. Those saying he doesnt pass through lines havent watched him enough.. Also remember that up top they've had Haller. Not always easy to pass the ball to a standing pole
 

Mainoldo

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Dortmund demanded €120M for Sancho in the summer. Clubs are going to always demand huge top dollar for their prized assets even when the financial climate is pretty grim as we seen last summer when we tried to sign Sancho. Especially when we are involved and desperate for the player, the selling club are no doubt going to inflate the asking price and try to milk as much money out of us as possible. If we or any other buying club don’t cough up, they ain’t gonna give a monkeys as it’s their player at the end of the day unless they badly want rid of that player or he desperately doesn’t want to stay.

Thing is, West Ham probably aren’t in a desperate need to sell, especially a player who has still got 3 years plus an option for an additional year left on his deal. Unless Rice puts in a transfer request and demands to leave etc, I just can’t see West Ham snapping our hands off for £50M for such a huge important player to them unless Rice makes it clear to them that he wants to leave.
Dortmund got what they deserved. Nothing. If the player makes it clear he wants to leave they will take the money. I mean Dortmund is a perfect example they will sell for probably less than they rejected in the summer all because they played rush and roulette with the market.
 

Mainoldo

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Why would West Ham sell him? Especially on the 'cheap'. Its not as if hes at the end of his contract and if we are after him proves he is a good player.
He wants to leave. It’s not on the ‘cheap’ it’s the going rate. If anyone thinks clubs can demand big fees for players anymore you need to look around and get with the times.
 

red thru&thru

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Hopefully West Ham will want Jesse by the end of the season after a successful loan spell, which means we can negotiate some kind of deal to bring Rice to OT.
 

wolvored

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He wants to leave. It’s not on the ‘cheap’ it’s the going rate. If anyone thinks clubs can demand big fees for players anymore you need to look around and get with the times.
If he were a Utd player would you want to sell him for a 'low' fee? No neither will West Ham. The times havent changed where transfer fees are at.
 

croadyman

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The thing is if we’re playing BOTH Fernandes and Pogba together in a 4-2-3-1 then we DON’T need someone who does more than break up play, cover Fernandes and Pogba to do their thing and shield the defence

We’ve got as much creativity from midfield in Fernandes and Pogba as anyone in world football but the problem is always sacrificing one of their strengths because outside of Matic who’s legs went a couple of years ago we don’t have the player to do the dirty work, we have to play McTominay and Fred to basically do the job of Matic if Matic had stamina and ground coverage.

I like Zakaria and I like Soumaré at Lille but as we’ve seen with Chelsea this year simply buying expensive and highly rated players from abroad that need to settle doesn’t always work and we’ve gone down that road so many times since Sir Alex retired, the likes of Rice and Kane would have been proper Sir Alex signings and until recently we’ve strayed so far away from what worked.

Yes Rice has limitations from what we’ve seen so far but we’re building a team to function properly into making us trophy winners and some of the parts aren’t always the flashiest but the best functioning, a pure out and out defensive midfielder with bundles of stamina to cover countless amounts of ground week in and week out who simply breaks up play and protects the defence is needed to play Fernandes and Pogba in the same team every week and allow us to start being a constant offensive threat instead of individual genius getting us by.
Makes very valid points but he is someone who definitely divides opinion in the fanbase, yes the likes of Zakaria & Soumare may offer more than him but will they need time to settle in this league whereas with him he already knows the league and still believe at 21 there is plenty of time to improve his all round game,
 

Mainoldo

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If he were a Utd player would you want to sell him for a 'low' fee? No neither will West Ham. The times havent changed where transfer fees are at.
It’s not a low fee. It’s the going rate. That’s the difference. We got Van De Beek for £30m a fee Real Madrid couldn’t afford what makes you think they can demand that without the supply? Anyway we will see.
 
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Zakaria > Rice is prime Emperor's New Clothes "haven't seen much of him but he's great on FIFA, has nice highlight videos and a Football Twitter hypetrain".

Stats from 2019/20 season where West Ham narrowly avoided relegation in 16th place, while BMG were unanimously praised for finishing 4th, scoring 66 goals (the same amount we did).
Progressive Passing
Rice 212 yards per game - playing for a slow paced Moyes, West Ham team
Zakaria 175 yards per game - playing for a hyperfast transition Rose, BMG team

Adjusted for pace and possession, I'm sure Rice becomes even more dominant here.

Pressured Passing (literally passes played while under pressure...one of the better 'press resistant' metrics for the DM role)
Rice 8.5 per game, at an 84% success rate
Zakaria 7 per game, at a 72% success rate

Switches (switches of play more than 40 yards...something both Carrick and Scholes excelled at)
Rice 2.1 per game, at an 85% success rate
Zakaria 0.8 per game, at an 71% success rate

You could say Zakaria's comparatively low number here could be down to style of play - but his success rate is also low.

Weak Foot
For me, this is a key technique metric and a big difference maker between them.

Zakaria's one of the most one-footed players in Europe - using his right foot 98% of the time. He literally attempted 19 passes all season with his left foot - completing just 8 (42%). By contrast, Rice attempted 300 left footed passes, completing 244 (83%...barely any lower than his right foot %)

Dribbling
Zakaria attempts 2.9 dribbles per game, at a 74% success rate.
Rice attempts 1.4 dribbles per game, at a 77% success rate.

Dribbling and carrying the ball is the one area where Zakaria excels over Rice - but the success rates are interesting and could point to a tactical reason for the disparity.

Rice is more progressive and better technically than Zakaria - unless you put unbelievably high value on dribbling - and I don't think anyone would argue about who excels at the defensive aspect of the role.

I've seen a lot of people saying that they think Rice made a big jump this season...if that's the case, these stats likely become even better for Rice. Especially given that Zakaria's coming off a bad injury and is struggling for form.
 
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Bebestation

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I'm hoping if Ole has viewed him as our future CDM then something like a Lingard loan to West Ham being mentioned about today helps us get the dude.

He is possibly too big a transfer for one in January though but it's not like West Ham are in the relegation zone either and maybe could do with him going since Soucek has been an eye catcher in similar positions for them.
 

Classical Mechanic

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Zakaria > Rice is prime Emperor's New Clothes "haven't seen much of him but he's great on FIFA, has nice highlight videos and a Football Twitter hypetrain".

Stats from 2019/20 season where West Ham narrowly avoided relegation in 16th place, while BMG were unanimously praised for finishing 4th, scoring 66 goals (the same amount we did).
Progressive Passing
Rice 212 yards per game - playing for a slow paced Moyes, West Ham team
Zakaria 175 yards per game - playing for a hyperfast transition Rose, BMG team

Adjusted for pace and possession, I'm sure Rice becomes even more dominant here.

Pressured Passing (literally passes played while under pressure...one of the better 'press resistant' metrics for the DM role)
Rice 8.5 per game, at an 84% success rate
Zakaria 7 per game, at a 72% success rate

Switches (switches of play more than 40 yards...something both Carrick and Scholes excelled at)
Rice 2.1 per game, at an 85% success rate
Zakaria 0.8 per game, at an 71% success rate

You could say Zakaria's comparatively low number here could be down to style of play - but his success rate is also low.

Weak Foot
For me, this is a key technique metric and a big difference maker between them.

Zakaria's one of the most one-footed players in Europe - using his right foot 98% of the time. He literally attempted 19 passes all season with his left foot - completing just 8 (42%). By contrast, Rice attempted 300 left footed passes, completing 244 (83%...barely any lower than his right foot %)

Dribbling
Zakaria attempts 2.9 dribbles per game, at a 74% success rate.
Rice attempts 1.4 dribbles per game, at a 77% success rate.

Dribbling and carrying the ball is the one area where Zakaria excels over Rice - but the success rates are interesting and could point to a tactical reason for the disparity.

Rice is more progressive and better technically than Zakaria - unless you put unbelievably high value on dribbling - and I don't think anyone would argue about who excels at the defensive aspect of the role.

I've seen a lot of people saying that they think Rice made a big jump this season...if that's the case, these stats likely become even better for Rice. Especially given that Zakaria's coming off a bad injury and is struggling for form.
Interesting. Dribbling does catch people's eye more than the other attributes.
 

zenith

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I really hope we don't get too stuck up on rice. West ham will want a huge sum for him, given that the contract runs till 2024 and he's one of their key players. The price will be in the range of 80 million and that'll be insane money on these times. Better off we look at other options as well.
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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I wasn’t keen but I’m moving full circle now. I actually think he could be a very good player for us. I agree with the poster above about the influence Ole and Carrick could have on a young midfield player. I still remember when Carrick came in and he wasn’t lauded as the best passer in the game nor the most physical. In time he proved to be an intelligent player above all else and equally was one of the best passers around for many years once he developed. Rice could well develop the same way.
 

BenitoSTARR

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I remember getting laughed at for suggesting Rice and Koopmeiners as genuine possible signings at DM. Now both are starting to get acclaim across Europe.
 

Mainoldo

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I remember getting laughed at for suggesting Rice and Koopmeiners as genuine possible signings at DM. Now both are starting to get acclaim across Europe.
Rice is excellent... left foot right foot (Carrick esq), great defensive position, a physical athlete. I don’t get why people keep assuming the Zakaria’s of this world are better because they are playing in Germany.

I’m picking Rice over everyone. I’ll take a look at koopmeiners though. Heard his name brought up before think I just watched a YouTube clip.
 

iHicksy

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The thing about Ole is I trust his player recruitment explicitly. If he thinks Rice is good enough and is United material then he's quite likely right.
 

BenitoSTARR

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Rice is excellent... left foot right foot (Carrick esq), great defensive position, a physical athlete. I don’t get why people keep assuming the Zakaria’s of this world are better because they are playing in Germany.

I’m picking Rice over everyone. I’ll take a look at koopmeiners though. Heard his name brought up before think I just watched a YouTube clip.
Probably heard it from me. Many on here think I’m Koops dad/agent/both.

Rice makes sense for me in terms of experience, age and style. Price might be the issue.
 

Bebestation

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I remember getting laughed at for suggesting Rice and Koopmeiners as genuine possible signings at DM. Now both are starting to get acclaim across Europe.
How is Koopmeiners ability as a LCB? Considering its arguably a position we also want to have a player in - it could leave us with a LCB that can play as a deep lying playmaker CDM too. (LIsandro Martinez can be flexible too for ajax but not as a good passer).

It's a good way of adding some depth to the squad even on top of a player like Rice (who I prefer and see as a ball winning midfielder).
 

RussellWilson

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I like him. Would be difficult to buy I imagine.

One of the key things with Rice is he's so good at covering ground quickly and powerfully. When we played West Ham last season I think, he caught Rashford with a good 10 yard head start.

That's vital in the modern game if you want to play on the front foot, that the defensive players can cover big open spaces in transition. Why our game is so different when Bailly plays, and Liverpool has been impacted by VVD so much. It's not always what you do on the ball but what you enable others to do on it.

He's also much better on the ball than given credit for as others have pointed out.
 

Adam-Utd

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The thing that worries me about Rice is when he's been asked to be more than just a DM for England he's struggled.

He often looks a bit lost in games where England are on the front foot, he might be too used to playing in a defensive setup?

I think if he does want to push on in his career he needs to make the switch soon.
 

El Zoido

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I like him. Would be difficult to buy I imagine.
Why do you think he’d be difficult to buy? West Ham won’t turn down a good offer, Moyes said they jumped at the chance to get £25m for Haller because they didn’t know if they’d get another club offer so much for him. West Ham are a selling club. Rice is a better player and will surely have more suitors, but they’ll definitely cash in for the right price.
 

Judas

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The issue is the right price will be high. Even in these times I think they'll want 70m or more. They'll sell if they like what we're willing to offer though, obviously.
 

Lash

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Why do you think he’d be difficult to buy? West Ham won’t turn down a good offer, Moyes said they jumped at the chance to get £25m for Haller because they didn’t know if they’d get another club offer so much for him. West Ham are a selling club. Rice is a better player and will surely have more suitors, but they’ll definitely cash in for the right price.
They quoted £80/70m for Chelsea in the summer. With Covid, they probably will want £50m which is still way too much. This is the club that valued Issa Diop at 45m.
 

UpWithRivers

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This only works if Pogba stays. He cant possibly be a replacement for Pogba our midfield would be McFred like in every game. That means selling Matic I guess. We should swap Matic and Lingard for Rice....if only it was that simple.
 

UmbroDays

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Interesting. Dribbling does catch people's eye more than the other attributes.
One of the common complaints about McT is that he’s not good on/with the ball.

Those passing stats are interesting, but how does he compare to McT? The reason I think Fred is better than McT is because he’s better on the ball before releasing it and better at finding space to receive a ball
 

Brightonian

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Who are some of the alternatives you'd like? I've had my eye on Zakaria for a while now.
Personally I don't know. Zakaria seems to be the only one anyone can make a convincing argument for at the moment, but I haven't seen enough of him to comment. Rice is an average player all round, in my opinion.

I'd very seriously consider Ndidi if we could get him. Yes, his play going forward is limited, but the whole point is to find someone almost entirely focussed on defending who can play with Pogba and Bruno, so I don't see that as an issue. We have box-to-box midfielders already, we don't need another. The player we go for must be a true DM,
 

Inigo Montoya

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Personally I don't know. Zakaria seems to be the only one anyone can make a convincing argument for at the moment, but I haven't seen enough of him to comment. Rice is an average player all round, in my opinion.

I'd very seriously consider Ndidi if we could get him. Yes, his play going forward is limited, but the whole point is to find someone almost entirely focussed on defending who can play with Pogba and Bruno, so I don't see that as an issue. We have box-to-box midfielders already, we don't need another. The player we go for must be a true DM,
We’ll see Rice in action soon enough against us.
Zakaria will leave soon enough
NDidi will be priced out
 

Chairman Steve

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Isn’t Rice one of those players who plays one position but is being foreseen being played somewhere else in the future? (In this case, central midfielder currently but will be a centre back?)

Not sure how I feel about players like that. It sounds very ‘jack of all trades, master of none’, which isn’t the worst thing in the world by any means but for that quoted price?
 

romufc

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Dortmund demanded €120M for Sancho in the summer. Clubs are going to always demand huge top dollar for their prized assets even when the financial climate is pretty grim as we seen last summer when we tried to sign Sancho. Especially when we are involved and desperate for the player, the selling club are no doubt going to inflate the asking price and try to milk as much money out of us as possible. If we or any other buying club don’t cough up, they ain’t gonna give a monkeys as it’s their player at the end of the day unless they badly want rid of that player or he desperately doesn’t want to stay.

Thing is, West Ham probably aren’t in a desperate need to sell, especially a player who has still got 3 years plus an option for an additional year left on his deal. Unless Rice puts in a transfer request and demands to leave etc, I just can’t see West Ham snapping our hands off for £50M for such a huge important player to them unless Rice makes it clear to them that he wants to leave.
Dortmund demanded 120m but did they get it? No. This was a good decision by Manutd not to give in when we were desperate. Now the tables look to have changed, there aren't reports that we are desperate for the signing, quite the contrary, Dortmund having to come out and say they might need to sell one of their assets.

Player aspirations also comes into this, Dortmund said they are not selling so they can compete for the title, they are no where near it, keeping a player who is not happy there is not always good for morale.

With Declan Rice and West Ham, you can see he has already been creating a little fuss, he sees himself playing at a higher level than West Ham. Only certain teams need a DM, if they get priced out, teams will look for other options. Look at Zaha, he had his moment to move to Arsenal, got priced out, Arsenal signed another player and Zaha will probably not play at a higher level than Palace.

No team in the PL is desperate to sell but every team is desperate to improve, without no crowds, alot of teams are losing money. Selling an asset for £50m could get 2/3 signings to improve the squad.
 
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