Last season Rice played like a machine in both directions while also ultimately offering as much offensively (in terms of GA) as Xhaka's much-applauded final season.
Xhaka's improvement was a big impact, but it appeared even bigger than it was because he'd been mediocre for a long stretch … not to mention due to him becoming less hotheaded. We've moved on and any nostalgia about him is misplaced I reckon.
