Declan "Deccers" Rice: Page 33 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Declan "Deccers" Rice

Burnwinter

JazzG A stat that absolutely puts the lie to claims Partey returning at 6 would revolutionise our performances, don't you think?

JazzG

Burnwinter I think it will massively improve us if we use Rice & Partey in midfield. If we stick Partey in Rice's position it might make us better going forward but will also leave us much more defensively exposed. Having both however would be a massive help. Havertz is not a No.8 and I believe is only playing there because of Partey's injury.

flobaba I don't think anyone is suggesting Rice is some elite deep lying playmaker but for his position his passing is good. He is an elite defensive midfielder with very good passing range.

Don Pacifico

JazzG Havertz is not a No.8 and I believe is only playing there because of Partey's injury.

Not disagreeing with you per se but where would you see Havertz playing?

HomeSteak

JazzG When they were all fit(Partey, Havertz & Rice)....it was Havertz playing the number 8, Rice the number 6....and Partey at right back.

JazzG

HomeSteak Wasn't Zinchenko/White injured at the time? Arteta probably was just experimenting as well at the time as I think he may have dropped Gabriel during this time.

Don Pacifico Either as our CF or could be used to rotate with Odegaard. I think he brings in a very different set of qualities to the team which other players don't have. In many away games has definitely helped us look a lot more robust and solid.

Qwiss

flobaba Its also about how deep he's playing. He was in between the centre halves at times on NYE and clearly pissing Gabriel off by being there. Taking that stat on its own as proof of anything is just desperately clutching at straws.

Don Pacifico ideally Bundesliga.

HomeSteak

JazzG Zinchenko was, Ben White was not.
He played Partey, White, Saliba, Timber for the first game. With Rice - Havertz in the middle. When Timber got injured he played Tomyiasu at left back. Then Tomyiasu got that red card so he played the same guys and replaced Tomyiasu with Kiwior.
Then Partey got injured and only played 15 more minutes vs City. That was as a defensive midfield.

Maybe now, that things look different he will play Partey back as a DM, but no doubt he wanted to go with Havertz - Rice from day 1. As we saw he did...he dropped Gabriel in order to do so, moved Saliba from the right to the left, and moved Ben White from right back to center back...just so he can play them, and this is a coach that changes teams very little, not even when players are in horrible form. Thats 4 changes done from Arteta, big changes: 1 player dropped (that was vital the season before for us, and is vital again now - Gabriel) and 1 player(Partey), playing out of position...just so he can play Havertz. Add the 65 mil transfer fee(and he was the highest paid player at Arsenal when he signed), the fact that he let Xhaka leave without buying a replacement(other then Havertz)..and the fact that he only played 1 game as a striker all season, even if all our strikers suck, and the fact that he is not a winger, nor will ever replace Odegaard, there is no doubt in my mind, that he is a number 8, better yet, that Arteta sees him as a number 8, and will play him there the most.
And now that Partey cannot be considered a real football player, and that we have little to no money to bring in someone else, it is Havertz at 8 until the end of the season, even if Arteta somehow manages to wake up and realise he made a mistake. He will be our number 8 next season as well...because we need a new defender and a new striker, and have to pay the transfer fee for Raya. There is not enough money to make this right

JazzG

I think the game against Man City in the Community Shield for me was probably the closest we have been to our first team.

I really don't think he'll keep using Havertz as our No.8 long term. Last summer we pushed hard to sign Gundogan which to me indicates he was thinking of that position but trying to work with funds. We also pushed for Zubimendi who supposedly won't leave until this summer.

Don Pacifico

JazzG interesting. I'd dismissed Havertz as CF given his finishing and general meh-ness there when at Chelsea. Have to say, still hope he's not our long-term alternative to Jesus and that we'll be in for someone better this summer!

HomeSteak

JazzG it makes 0 sense whatsoever to me that he would play the "first team" that one time and then change it the very next game, and never play that "first team" ever again lol.
The reason he played Havertz up top was beacuse Jesus was out for the Community Shield. And he will use Havertz like that when needed, he even played him on the right wing in one game, can't remember vs who. The guy is our number 8, I hate it as much as the next guy.

daredevil

HomeSteak

Partey only played RB, because Zinchenko was out. We play with a fullback who inverts into midfield, it was never going to be both Partey and Zinchenko inverting. It's one or the other.

It makes even less sense to ignore the 100 odd games that Partey played in midfield and use the 5 or so games at RB as proof that's all that Arteta wanted.

JazzG

HomeSteak it makes 0 sense whatsoever to me that he would play the "first team" that one time and then change it the very next game, and never play that "first team" ever again lol.

To be fair Partey and Timber got injured soon after and seemed to me like he was experimenting rather than not wanting to go that route. Seemed like he was trying get us to invert from RB rather than LB by using Partey as our RB. Partey could then come into his stronger position of being able to dictate the game from deeper.

QuincyAbeyie

daredevil it makes even less sense to use the 100 of so games where we didn't have Havertz and Rice as proof to see how Arteta wants to play with Havertz and Rice.

And even if Partey is RB and Gabriel is benched the moment Zinchenko is injured then RB and bench respectively will be big roles for them nevertheless.

daredevil

QuincyAbeyie

The point was that it's a ridiculously small sample size.

JazzG

Four goals and four assists this season, really good numbers so far for a DM. I think his assist numbers will go up as well in the second half as he has taken on freekick and corner duties.

Got a fucking shot on him as well from distance!

Panda

Really good numbers. Our set piece man.

His side foot technique is brilliant. He should hit most of his shots with the side.

daredevil

Genuinely one of the best signings we've ever made in terms of profound and immediate impact.

Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert

He'll retire here.

Or with WHU in League One when he's 39.

DiabyKungFu

kamikaze

Count me as one of the guys who didn't appreciate how good this guy was before he signed. He's world class, imo. If not for the rumored allegations, I'd love to see what a Partey-Rice double pivot against top sides would look like. We looked incredible with Jorginho alongside him. On that note, I do think we should sign a 6 this summer.

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