Declan Rice

[kafta]

Is he a decent passer of the ball?

 

[padzilla]

The way he behaved to Ireland showed a distinct lack of character. He is the last type of player we should be looking at. Plus we will have to pay two, maybe three times, his value because he is English now. We could, and should be, setting our sights significantly higher.

 

[Patrick08]

Reckon someone like Eriksen would be a great addition to the team as that playmaker

If it were up to me I would put all the Right winger money on him this summer and wait another year for Sancho who needs a year more at Dortmund to develop further, and play a diamond 4312 to utilize Sanchez up front as well. Levy talks big but 100 m will be hard to reject for a player who is free agent in next summer with criminally low wages. I doubt erikson will sign new contract and extend his stay at Tottenham being so underpaid.

 

[Thiagoal]

Looks like he's going to be top class- exactly the player SAF would have signed! Very reminiscent of a young Carrick

 

[Red_toad]

Looks to have more ability than McTommy, very mature player. Sign him up and he can learn from Matic and replace him over the next few seasons, or he could well possibly end up a very good centre half. I wonder what kind of fee west ham would accept...

 

[Fiskey]

This would be such a Fergie signing.

 

[Kaglish10]

Hes quite a bit better than McT.

How did you come to such conclusion? No doubt Declan Rice is far ahead of MCTominay in his development because he's played so many games than the latter but let's not forget the fact that MCTominay looked fantastic against a world-class midfielder such as Verratti. He didn't also look out of place against Liverpool.

All we can do is to give McTominay the needed game times to develop. The grass isn't always greener on the other side.

 

[Litch]

Looks like he's going to be top class- exactly the player SAF would have signed! Very reminiscent of a young Carrick

Agree, don't know if he's on our radar but should be as he's already looked a talent against big teams in the prem. In reality, he's the type of English player that pretty much all the top teams need including City. An aside but when you compare Rice with Scott, it's like night and day.

 

[Mcking]

Is he a decent passer of the ball?

He is comfortable with the ball, but keeps it simple when it comes to passing. He is no Pirlo for sure.
He is actually my kind of defensive midfielder. Great positional sense, holds the fort very well, wins the ball back a lot, very competent going up for aerial balls. He aides, covers for and protects his defence very well both in deep and advanced positions, in the air and on the ground.
Though he has not shown to be very expansive with his passing, I reckon he would be a very good signing if Herrera leaves especially if we could bring in a creative midfielder to shoulder the creative responsibilities with Pogba. I'm fed up with us having to play with defensive midfielders that are not great at holding and with central midfielders that are more inclined to the defensive side of midfield. We could do with a specialist in defensive midfield which would allow us to get more creative midfielders on the pitch.

 

[2 man midfield]

This would be such a Fergie signing.

He’s pulling the strings I tells ya!

I’d actually like it if we got back to signing the best British talent. It added something to the squad imo.

 

[laughtersassassin]

I see people point that he wouldn't be the best signing ever but he is already better than Matic on the fact his legs allow him to move and track players.

Matic needs to be replaced this summer. He has his games but aint consistent enough to start.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

I will be honest and say I have not really watched very much of him but is he not a very similar player to Matic?

 

[laughtersassassin]

I will be honest and say I have not really watched very much of him but is he not a very similar player to Matic?

Matic can't move anymore mate. Also dwells in the ball a lot. Rice is fresh and will only get better.

Wether its Rice or someone else Matic is a player we got to demote sooner rather than later.

He has his good games but he just can't do it consistently.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

I will be honest and say I have not really watched very much of him but is he not a very similar player to Matic?

Matic can't move anymore mate. Also dwells in the ball a lot. Rice is fresh and will only get better.

Wether its Rice or someone else Matic is a player we got to demote sooner rather than later.

He has his good games but he just can't do it consistently.

From the little I’ve seen of Rice he does the opposite of dwelling on the ball and recycles possession very quickly.

 

[Sanche7]

How is his passing, only seen YouTube highlights, looks just OK, nothing great.
But as others have said, if we can get a midfield destroyer who can cover the CBs, we can bring in a more attacking midfielder with Pogba playing as an attacking #8

___________ Felix
_______________. Pogba
_____________DM

 

[United Pro]

I will be honest and say I have not really watched very much of him but is he not a very similar player to Matic?

He's more similar to Dier.

 

[MassiveMorgan]

Anybody think he could move into a central defensive role in the future? He may not have the most expansive passing range for a midfielder (although I’m not sure that’s what’s asked of him at present). He breaks up play well as a CDM, so that may be where he remains, but has anyone seen him play in defence?

 

[Spielmacher]

Anybody think he could move into a central defensive role in the future? He may not have the most expansive passing range for a midfielder (although I’m not sure that’s what’s asked of him at present). He breaks up play well as a CDM, so that may be where he remains, but has anyone seen him play in defence?

He's been converted from centre-back by West Ham, he could definitely fill in there.

 

[Dazzmondo]

As an Irish Utd fan this would cause some internal conflict

 

[GDaly95]

I'm an Irish United fan also, and I think he's a knob.

But truthfully if we signed him (and I think we should) I'd get over it pretty quickly.

I think he'd fit us perfectly, some signings just feel right and this is one of them. And I wouldn't have said that about many, if any of our signings over the last few years.

 

[Spielmacher]

He signed a contract til 2024 in December, that certainly gives West Ham a lot of power in potential negotiations.

 

[Robbie Boy]

A lot of our players from Carrick to Fletch got that though?

And Rice is nowhere near their level and probably never will be. See what I’m saying.

 

[andersj]

He signed a contract til 2024 in December, that certainly gives West Ham a lot of power in potential negotiations.

He signed litteraly just days before he could negotiate with other clubs. Might be a clause or gentlemans agreement there? I would think City and Liverpool will be keen too. Certainly City.

 

[Spielmacher]

He signed litteraly just days before he could negotiate with other clubs. Might be a clause or gentlemans agreement there? I would think City and Liverpool will be keen too. Certainly City.

Very possible, especially since Pellegrini said that he's "available for the right price".

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Him being like Dier wouldn't be a bad thing if he's an upgraded version, which given his age and what he's showing already, is very likely.

Dier in 16/17 was a key player for us, sitting in front of the back 4 and covering for Walker/Rose when they pushed up. He was a big part of why we had the best defence in the league that season and honestly I think we've missed that Dier since. He's regressed recently.


Rice is a fantastic ball winner and his biggest advantage over Dier is whilst he's no creative passer, he is capable of quickly moving the ball on to players with more technical ability. If you had him just behind two more creative types he could be a really important lynchpin.

I'd love him at Spurs, personally. He's very mature for his age and he's the kind of player Pochettino likes, a midfielder with a bit of bite.

I understand people's reservations though. He's not the flashy exciting midfield signing that muppets go mad for, but he is the kind of player that other players love to play alongside. And he's not 'meh' or 'average' either, he's got some standout abilities, they're just not ones people get excited for.

 

[andersj]

Him being like Dier wouldn't be a bad thing if he's an upgraded version, which given his age and what he's showing already, is very likely.

Dier in 16/17 was a key player for us, sitting in front of the back 4 and covering for Walker/Rose when they pushed up. He was a big part of why we had the best defence in the league that season and honestly I think we've missed that Dier since. He's regressed recently.


Rice is a fantastic ball winner and his biggest advantage over Dier is whilst he's no creative passer, he is capable of quickly moving the ball on to players with more technical ability. If you had him just behind two more creative types he could be a really important lynchpin.

I'd love him at Spurs, personally. He's very mature for his age and he's the kind of player Pochettino likes, a midfielder with a bit of bite.

I understand people's reservations though. He's not the flashy exciting midfield signing that muppets go mad for, but he is the kind of player that other players love to play alongside. And he's not 'meh' or 'average' either, he's got some standout abilities, they're just not ones people get excited for.

Agree that Dier was good that year. Just looks a bit heavy (not fat) and less mobile now. Feels like several english midfielders suffers from this. Henderson is also less mobile than he was, and has regressed a bit in my opinion.

 

[Ekeke]

He's going to be the next Jack Rodwell. Stay clear

Rodwell was the complete opposite. Looked "class" to some people as a youngster on the ball, but didnt do the dirty work.

Rice does the dirty work but isnt flashy enough for some people

 

[Ekeke]

Him being like Dier wouldn't be a bad thing if he's an upgraded version, which given his age and what he's showing already, is very likely.

Dier in 16/17 was a key player for us, sitting in front of the back 4 and covering for Walker/Rose when they pushed up. He was a big part of why we had the best defence in the league that season and honestly I think we've missed that Dier since. He's regressed recently.


Rice is a fantastic ball winner and his biggest advantage over Dier is whilst he's no creative passer, he is capable of quickly moving the ball on to players with more technical ability. If you had him just behind two more creative types he could be a really important lynchpin.

I'd love him at Spurs, personally. He's very mature for his age and he's the kind of player Pochettino likes, a midfielder with a bit of bite.

I understand people's reservations though. He's not the flashy exciting midfield signing that muppets go mad for, but he is the kind of player that other players love to play alongside. And he's not 'meh' or 'average' either, he's got some standout abilities, they're just not ones people get excited for.

Well put

 

[Wallez]

Rice could fit nicely as a CDM, replacing Matic that has been poor this season. He is not extremely good in terms of passing, but does a fantastic job defensively and covers a lot more ground than Matic. With Rice as a CDM, we could probably play Pogba alongside a new signing like Eriksen, Rabiot or Bruno Fernandes. However, he will probably be very expensive and I would rather see us spending big in other positions (RB, CB, CM, RW) as we should be able to squeeze one last decent season out of Matic. Rice might be an option next year if he continues to impress for West Ham.

 

[El Jefe]

Whether he's good enough or not is one thing but will he be worth? that's the more important question. He's just signed a five year deal and his hype is through the roof right now. In this crazy market, West Ham would be foolish to accept anything less that £60m from us. Would spending £60m on Declan Rice be the best use of our transfer budget for this summer? I don't think so.

He's a good player but as many posters have said, our midfield is already very limited creativity wise and Rice if anything makes us even less creative. We can go for him another time when he's a bit more proven.

 

[Ekeke]

Whether he's good enough or not is one thing but will he be worth? that's the more important question. He's just signed a five year deal and his hype is through the roof right now. In this crazy market, West Ham would be foolish to accept anything less that £60m from us. Would spending £60m on Declan Rice be the best use of our transfer budget for this summer? I don't think so.

He's a good player but as many posters have said, our midfield is already very limited creativity wise and Rice if anything makes us even less creative. We can go for him another time when he's a bit more proven.

We dont know how those contract agreements went. West Ham faced losing him for free in the summer, now they'll get a fee for him. £40-45 million is a lot better than £0. Perhaps he's had assurances that they wont stop him joining a big club in order to get him to sign.

 

[AP88]

Needs to evolve his passing game to break lines, and play through rather than around opposition blocks, but his defensive positioning and reading of the game defensively is very impressive.

Still think he ceiling will be higher as a central defender, and Sean Longstaff will be a better midfield anchor for England for years the come.

 

[bond19821982]

Apart from the fact that he is English, I don't see the Hype .

 

[Devil may care]

Him being like Dier wouldn't be a bad thing if he's an upgraded version, which given his age and what he's showing already, is very likely.

Dier in 16/17 was a key player for us, sitting in front of the back 4 and covering for Walker/Rose when they pushed up. He was a big part of why we had the best defence in the league that season and honestly I think we've missed that Dier since. He's regressed recently.


Rice is a fantastic ball winner and his biggest advantage over Dier is whilst he's no creative passer, he is capable of quickly moving the ball on to players with more technical ability. If you had him just behind two more creative types he could be a really important lynchpin.

I'd love him at Spurs, personally. He's very mature for his age and he's the kind of player Pochettino likes, a midfielder with a bit of bite.

I understand people's reservations though. He's not the flashy exciting midfield signing that muppets go mad for, but he is the kind of player that other players love to play alongside. And he's not 'meh' or 'average' either, he's got some standout abilities, they're just not ones people get excited for.

This is fair enough but necessitates us buying 2 midfielders as we don't have the 2nd creative #8.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

I like him, but come to think of it, we don't really need a player like Rice. We have ball winners. What we haven't got is a player who can get their foot on the ball and make us tick. Rice, whilst a good young player, doesn't suit that profile.

 

[Canagel]

I like him, but come to think of it, we don't really need a player like Rice. We have ball winners. What we haven't got is a player who can get their foot on the ball and make us tick. Rice, whilst a good young player, doesn't suit that profile.

Who are these ball winners? We have DM that doesn't defend and a defensive CM that can't dictate or move with the ball. Why not just get proper DM to replace them both and then fit the pieces around.
Our midfield has no dynamism in it and doesn't provide a protection defensively nor platform in offense.
If we're building a squad I can see Rice doing a very important role shielding 2 CB allowing for 2 fullbacks to attack and perhaps 2 creative mids instead of one. Not all the DM have to be like Carrick, Pirlo, Verratti and Busquets. Other DMs like Casemiro, Kante and Fernandinho have proven themselves to be key components of winning teams. Fabinho is also doing a good job in Liverpool. Almost undroppable. D Rice fits into the latter groups of DM's. We could fit any 2 combination of players like Pogba, Fred, Ndombele, Eriksen, Thiago, Bruno Fernandes, Rabiot etc infront and not worry about defense.

 

[Freak]

He could easily come in and be our Fernandinho that will release our fullbacks and more attacking midfielders like Pogba to focus on creating in Attack. I hope we buy Rice. Matic is gone.

 

[Aloysius's Back 3]

Why rice makes sense is because of Rabiot being a free transfer.

Creativity added on a free whilst fixing the ability for creative players to play freely.

 

[Champagne Football]

This thread will obviously yo-yo from 'He' s the new Keane' to 'He's bang average and overrated' depending on how he performs each week.

It's very rare that a 20 year dominates central midfield in a good few of their games in their first season. But it's guaranteed all 20 year old stars in the making will be inconsistent unless your last name Messi.

In the Premier league it's all about margins. If you can find someone who is slightly better than the rest who also has the winner mentality then that's a Utd player right there. I think Rice fits into that category but I don't think West Ham will sell any time soon.

 

[Devil may care]

Why rice makes sense is because of Rabiot being a free transfer.

Creativity added on a free whilst fixing the ability for creative players to play freely.

I personally don't see Rabiot as a playmaker or that creative but you are suggesting him and Pogba as the #8's ahead of Rice?