No - one in their wildest dreams thought he was gonna to be this good.
I really, really wish we had Rice as Vieria’s replacement back in the day.
Declan "Deccers" Rice
Rice rice baby
He's great at what he's great at but again putting him at the pivot means we do not move the ball forward quickly and crisply enough.
We still badly miss Partey there and our football won't be fluid again until he's back or we sign someone who can fill the role.
Let Rice be the Xhaka upgrade he's made for.
Sicario2 - Tier 1 you just had to see him for England to get an idea of his abilities, covers so much ground and as technically sound as you can get and also has a top attitude.
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Gunner89 I've been amusing myself with a Scott Parker comparison after that non-goal a week ago. Dared not say anything until now 
World class. Monster.
I always knew he was good at ball-winning and covering the pitch but his ball retention is something else. He can definitely play more adventurously passing wise but I think he's told to be more conservative.
Gunner89 yep he’s very capable of it. Also able to surge in to the box and finish. He’s playing how Arteta wants him to.
Top tier player.
Qwiss Yeah I like him at both 6 and 8. He is a defensive machine but not a controller 6 and hardly plays passes through lines. Personally think we should buy a 6 to replace Jorginho and a proper box to box 8 to replace Partey. Rice continues to play both positions depending on opposition.
Havertz can stay as reliable versatile rotation and then keep 1 of Vieira and Smith-Rowe.
I love how you spend other people's money
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him and wilo are looking like early POTY contenders. they have the 90s/2000s ruggedness I've been pining for
He's very good , and the fee was ridiculous. Glad he's playing for us and not City though.
What we need is another midfielder on that level
7 days later
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Drops 9 out of 10s each week. Midfield royalty
Start adding those round the corner, between the lines Partey stabs, then wow.
The Octopus
Pepe LeFrits wasn't that Partey's nickname already? Need a different beast...the squid? Not sure he'd appreciate being likened to calamari, though...
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Don’t need or want Declan to change in any way. He’s part of that wall of power defence sitting in front of the four trees that gives the attacking players a platform to go about their business on.
Feels like. “Oopsy daisy attack, you’ve uncharacteristically lost possession. Here let us just win that ball and get it back to you so you can have another go at attacking them. ‘E are!”
He's gargantuan. Had him mixed up with Havertz for a few minutes yesterday, with the nett effect being to think "whoa Havertz is looking huge and really working his butt off today"
It felt like he won the ball back so many times either through a tackle or interception. Crazy. He also hardly ever makes fouls. He was shooting off target with the laces yesterday think his side foot shooting is better.
He’s basically Flamini having taken a Mario Power Up mushroom
Other worldly
Immense.
105m what a bargain lol.
2 English CMs costed over 100m turned out to be bargains in the same window. Unreal
Without him we would have dropped at least 6 points already. He's a mentality monster and drives the team forward in difficult times. The English Vieira
Only setting on him is beast mode
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this fucking guy is something else. I just know he's going to be there in big moments for us in the coming years. a man for the biggest occassions
living proof of the old saying 'you buy cheap, you buy twice'. 105m bargain
2 games now he's saved at the death. Clutch.
3 goals now, right? here, vs Chelsea and vs Man United?
I think his long range shooting can still improve too. With teams focusing so much on Martinelli, Saka and Odegaard, he gets quite a lot of shooting opportunities. Would like to see him add the curlers we saw from Partey last season to his locker.
Good goal but we really need to see him score a Champions League knockout round hat-trick before we seriously start comparing him to Nicklas Bendtner. Folks are getting ridiculously ahead of themselves there.
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Pepe LeFrits the openings are there and his shooting is pretty good, it just seems to be getting blocked at the last minute. have a feeling we'll see a couple of pelters from him at some point this season
DiabyKungFu Be warned, I might never compare him to Bendtner, seriously or otherwise!
One thing I thought was interesting last night - maybe it's just me reading too much into things - when King Declan the First was being interviewed with Saka afterwards, you could see how happy (relieved/ happy & relieved?) Saka was at the late winner. King Declan seemed much more serious and focused, almost as if he realised how close we'd been to fucking it.
As most of you will know, I never really bought into the Xhaka mentality issue being a, y' know, issue (not in the last couple of years anyway) but I do think that Rice has a seriousness about him that speaks to a truly elite mentality and awareness of what it takes to get a job done. I'll be very interested to see how he goes and how he affects the team at Villa Park and then Anfield. These games are the ones we bought him for really.
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Tbf Rice looked delighted and very relieved in the post match celebrations, it was kind of adorable. I don't think he's a Roy Keane type who will feign not caring because they want to project that 'I'm all business' image.
Great goal by him but thought he got beat a little easy on the corner that Raya fucked up.
RocktheCasbah King Declan seemed much more serious and focused, almost as if he realised how close we'd been to fucking it.
Spot on, last season we kept having to rely on late winners and that is simply not sustainable as we brutally found out.
I think someone described him as a mentality monster, that is what he is. I think he is the true leader of the club on the pitch now.
goon Tbf Rice looked delighted and very relieved in the post match celebrations, it was kind of adorable. I don't think he's a Roy Keane type who will feign not caring because they want to project that 'I'm all business' image.
Oh of course he did, as he should have been. I guess I was more getting at the realisation sinking in, once the initial euphoria started to fade, that we were very, very close to not winning. I think he'll play a key role in keeping the dressing room honest. But as I say, I am aware I might be reading too much into it.