The thing with Rice is he has an immense presence - that attribute alone is huge. He’s also very very good at positioning himself and intercepting. He has solid technique and his ability to surge forward carrying the ball is valuable. He also brings a decent goal threat. Pretty much the total package.
Caicedo has a lot of talent, and reads the game well and can hustle and compete, but he‘s often up against it because he doesn’t have that stature nor is his technique at a level where it will override his shortcomings. He plays a higher risk game than Rice and a lot of what he does seems last ditch. Alarm bells for me were ringing when I watched him closely at Brighton’s game at St James Park. He was bouncing off Joelinton and friends. Big difference turning out for Brighton where you can grab the highlights and being expected to move the needle at a big club.
I was warming to the idea of having him come in to be used as an inverted rightback, but I would far rather have Timber for that.
