Declan "Deccers" Rice: Page 60 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Declan "Deccers" Rice

RocktheCasbah

USArsenal Odegaard is Arteta's voice on the pitch, so there's no way he's losing the captaincy without one of them leaving the club imo.

Meatwad

JazzG
yeah that's some crackhead adjacent shit right there.

Qwiss

Meatwad he's just coaching and someones sped it up for comic effect. Nothing even slightly out of the ordinary there.

awooga83

USArsenal I think the point around taking it away is fair but I think it shows the captaincy thing is mainly symbolic now. Yes you do the media or programme notes but I don't necessarily think I see on the pitch some of the responsibility that I think you want.

Like rice calling out Partey for a silly booking or in the Madrid home leg going against the coaches and ode to take responsibility and have a shot at the free kick. Yes you represent the manager but part of that is your trusted to make your own decisions on the pitch in the moment.

Tam

Qwiss looks a bit odd especially sped up but I’m sure that’s in Spain and he’s no doubt dealing with a language barrier.

Doc

Keep it with Ode, Rice would get to pointy if he is made captain.

JazzG

daredevil

JazzG

From what I've heard and read, Odegaard is there for everyone off the pitch, i.e. everyone's best pal.

Doesn't surprise me that he also became close with Havertz very quickly.

Tam

I don't see the issue with the captaincy. The main role of a captain on the pitch these days is in talking with and influencing the referee. Odegaard has a much calmer nature and is better suited to that than Rice or Gabriel, who both still have their hot-headed moments and can get worked into a bit of a frenzy at times.

Mirth

Because some people think there's only one type of leadership.

Compare the dressing room over the past 20 years and I'd argue this is the most professional it's been bar the few years when Per and Arteta were captains.

Burnwinter

Ødegaard is a "first violin" style of captain and he's good at it.

The discussion here understates Ødegaard's role on the pitch. He regularly positions junior players by yelling at them, he's tracked back to lead the buildup for long periods, despite this he's also the pressing trigger, he stands over the dead balls, etc. That's on top of being our playmaker.

Considering the intricacy of Arteta's instructions, if you gave some other player the captaincy, he would only become the ceremonial monarch of a republic of XI with Ødegaard remaining its prime minister.

Klaus

A sign of good leaders is often how they can control other leaders in the squad, and Ødegaard must be pretty good at it. Bit like how Paddy could control Henry. Who's gonna have the stones to tell Declan or Gabriel to shut the fuck up and get on with it when things get heated? These things matter in a group dynamic a lot more than optics, which only matter to casual spectators.

GooneriC

Can or should the captain be dropped for poor performance? I think so . I feel we suffered keeping Odegaard playing when he was badly undeperforming, and maybe part of the reason he continued was because he's captain.

Mirth

GooneriC Arteta loves Ode. In fact I don’t think there’s a player in the squad that Arteta has an affinity for more than Odegaard so I don’t think he’ll be dropped unless his form really doesn’t improve by December. I think it will though - I’m just not sure it’ll go back to 2023 levels

USArsenal

Why do people think Odegaard will not get back to the way he played in 2023/24 season? He has a bad ankle injury last year, was rushed back (clearly before he was actually fit) and as he came back, half of our team went out on injury, including Sake, Hevertz, Jesus, etc. That completely disrupted our season, and Odegaard's effectiveness. But he was still working his ass off, pressing, trying things (that just didnt come off), etc. He started to look better at the tail end of the season, and looked good for Norway, and has also looked improved in pre-season. With Zubi and Rice being fit and ready to go, i think we will see a much different Odegaard this season.

I dont he will be dropped or should be dropped, either in the team or as captain. And clearly the team thinks the same, as does Arteta. This should be a non-conversation at this point.

RocktheCasbah

USArsenal would also add a playmaker needs runners to hit. We had no runners for most of the second half of the season. Nwaneri is a skillful footballer, but he doesn't make runs into space. Even his thrilling little burst on Saturday came from a ball to feet.

GooneriC

I dont doubt that Odegaard may return to that kind of form. My point is we continued to play him even though he was levels below whats required and part of that has to do with him being Captain or one of Artetas favorites. It should not be so , a manager has to do better by the team not send a player out there who isnt cutting it.

Don Pacifico

GooneriC what? Who should we have played in place of Odegaard? He had a poor season but not like there was an alternative in his position (Nwaneri could not have done it). A bad Odegaard was unfortunately still our best option.

Qwiss

GooneriC who were the other options though? We were down to the bare bones. Nwaneri was on the wing, Merino was up front.

Lukazan

I think Odegaard will benefit massively from playing with Zubimendi. Kel said it the other day but the Rice, Zubi and Odegaard trio is potentially unplayable.

Meatwad

Lukazan
they have a really easy chance to be unplayable on sunday.

Gurgen

Zubi will get the ball to him early and he will improve. But he will mostly improve by being fit, if he achieves that.

Don Pacifico

Gurgen he'll hopefully also be relieved of having to drop deep quite so often.

Mirth

Meatwad anyone who performs well over the next 10 games and gets results will basically get a free pass for a while.

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