I just don't see it with him. He's a good player, but he's not the thing we are missing. That video itself shows a bunch off sideways and backwards passing mostly, sprinkled in with 2 forward passes and 2 or 3 switches of the play. All things Rice is capable of and even he himself isn't what I'm looking for in the role. We'll end up as unimaginative as France do playing two players in the middle who's main strengths are winning the ball back and covering large parts of the pitch (with and without the ball) due to their strength, speed and long strides.
I don't mind a big strong guy in the middle behind Rice, so long as he has the technique to be the next Vieira. But the most important qualities that role should have, at least in my eyes, is the ability to beat the press both on the ball and through his passing, setting us up on the front foot against both unsettled defences when we win the ball back, and against settled defenses when we are pinning a team back. True, I may be asking a lot, but it's what I feel we need to really push us to another level. That and having a truly frightening world class CF to attract the attentions of defences and to strike fear into their hearts giving our 8s and wide players more freedom to operate without being double teamed.
