Arsenal Thread | 2025/26

[Phil1]

No it isn't. Rice is so wooden. Fernandinho was a real athlete with pace and plenty up top. As far away from Rice as you can get.

Read that twice and still doesn't make sense.

In simple terms, Rice is a good player but isn't as good as Fernandinho was.

 

[TonyColemansbagofapples]

He's a good player. Good, no more! £110m? Get off the pop laddie. Plodder is 27 next month, not much room for improvement for a workhorse. Fernandinho was a great player before he signed for us.

 

[goatfeeder100]

Rice's stock seems to have gone up hugely since those free kick bangers against Madrid last season.
I think he's pretty good. Steady but not much more than that. Can take a decent corner as well I suppose which is a big part of Arsenals goal threat.

 

[TonyColemansbagofapples]

You mean the first free kicks he’d scored from in his career?

 

[Phil1]

He's a good player. Good, no more! £110m? Get off the pop laddie. Plodder is 27 next month, not much room for improvement for a workhorse. Fernandinho was a great player before he signed for us.

Haha! You're not a fan of his I see.

 

[TonyColemansbagofapples]

Haha! You're not a fan of his I see.

He seems a sound bloke but as a footballer he’s well short of where he’s portrayed. It is fair to say that I can’t see him leading England to the World Cup.

 

[goatfeeder100]

You mean the first free kicks he’d scored from in his career?

Yes

 

[Danny Tiatto]

The thing is he could be eventually, he's got time on his side and we picked Fernandinho up late in his career.
To say this version of Rice is better than the City version of Fernandinho is, as I said previously, absolutely batshit crazy.

The difference Is Fernandinho was running around in Ukraine and had petrol in the tank ready for the challenge of the epl.

Rice has been running around like a maniac in the most demanding league on the planet for his whole career. It’s not sustainable and once his legs start to wane which will probably be at around 30, what does he really have left to offer as a footballer?

 

[bennyboy]

Personally I would ban every clueless clown who thinks Rice is better than Fernandinho.

 

[halfcenturyup]

Pretty sure Arsenal will win trophies. They'll probably get one of the PL or Champions League this season.

Did nobody else pick you up on this? With that attitude you are almost guaranteed to be disappointed season after season.

You may win the PL this season. You may win the CL. Hell, you may win both. But it will have much more to do with your form in the last three months of the season compared to your competitors and much less to do with your form in the first three months. History isn't on your side.

 

[mancboy]

Pretty sure Arsenal will win trophies. They'll probably get one of the PL or Champions League this season. Despite a horrendous injury list they are still 2 clear in the PL and 6 from 6 in the CL - once those players come back (and all are due back by end Dec) the team will motor. Arsenal's squad depth has gotten them this far - imagine what would happen if City lost Haaland or Foden etc for any length of time.

I hope it's the PL with the caveat that we win it on the pitch, not in a courtroom as else it won't count in my book.

This level of arrogance is fucking incredible, they have so much more fun for fucking it up than getting it over the line, its exactly this reason why people think arsenal fans are idiots.

 

[Dobsy]

I think Arsenal are more than capable of winning the league but just going through a rough patch right now. The question is how long will it last? City definitely have a dodgy patch in us and we have some squad imbalances that will definitely be exposed if Nico G or Haaland pick up an injury soon.

I'd say they're still favourites based on the fixture list and their two point lead but I do enjoy how panicky they are under the slightest pressure. Tbh it's one of the things giving me the most optimism.

 

[VOOMER]

Let's agree to disagree. This is a City forum, I'm an Arsenal fan, we are going to have our own biases. Heck it wasn't so long ago someone on here amazingly posted that Aguero was a better player than Henry so we are hardly going to have a neutral discussion on this!

The stats don't lie on that one.

 

[KentBlue]

Kun scored more than Henry, didn't he? I can't be arsed to look up the stats but I believe he did.

 

[mancboy]

Kun scored more than Henry, didn't he? I can't be arsed to look up the stats but I believe he did.

yes he did scored 9 more pl goals

 

[HelloCity]

Vieira and Keane above Rodri IMHO. Or at least level. And above anyone, untouchable on his own is Ngolo Kante who was a cheat code for having the equivalent of 12 players on the pitch.

And I know this is a City forum but LOL at having Fernandinho above Rice, Petit and Essien!

Rodri was the best player, by far, for a team that won the treble and 4 titles in a row.

You continue to talk utter shit about football on a regular basis - it's clear your knowledge is minimal at best.

Let's hope Arsenal drop off soon, so you take your ball and disappear again as has happed now for the last 3 seasons. Shit house.

 

[goatfeeder100]

Vieira and Keane above Rodri IMHO. Or at least level. And above anyone, untouchable on his own is Ngolo Kante who was a cheat code for having the equivalent of 12 players on the pitch.

And I know this is a City forum but LOL at having Fernandinho above Rice, Petit and Essien!

Laughing at Fernandinho being in that class shows a bit of ignorance tbh because he was immense in that midfield role for City for a number of years. Very underrated player.

 

[Milesvk]

Kun scored more than Henry, didn't he? I can't be arsed to look up the stats but I believe he did.

People forget Kun scored a load in La Liga.
Without looking I'm sure he has only a few goals difference to shearers total goal tally.

 

[borassic]

I personally think Rice is top class. A little too side to side at times but he’d slot into this City team perfectly.

 

[Danny Tiatto]

I personally think Rice is top class. A little too side to side at times but he’d slot into this City team perfectly.

Thats because you have bought into the English media narrative. And he’s not fluid enough to play in a top class midfield.