England wasting one of the most talented squads ever assembled on Southgate

[the blue panther]

loved Eyal Berkovic but no way was he in the same class as Rice! Rice would have had a field day up against him.
can't argue against your other two shouts but they were before my time and a whole different era.
from 1992+ Rice is the most complete all round midfielder we've had.

Fair enough. Back in the day, I used to enthuse about Mike Doyle; non City fans couldn't see it - most non City fans don't even remember him. I'm not going to argue with a Hammers fan about one of their own.

 

[half & half derby scarf]

Fair enough. Back in the day, I used to enthuse about Mike Doyle; non City fans couldn't see it - most non City fans don't even remember him. I'm not going to argue with a Hammers fan about one of their own.

Rice is a bit of a plodder. Average one paced player with decent enough engine. Bit like a skoda. Not a patch on Berkovic really.

 

[Tom Ford]

Being old school I just like these kind of plodders like Rice.. Phillips Fabinho type players. Couldn’t bare Hamann or Mascherano either.. just feel like they steal a living from proper players. When I was growing up midfield was the hardest position to play because you had to be fit enough to go forward when the team attacked and get back when team was defending. Simply breaking up play and giving a two yard pass to a better player and nothing else was never enough. Roy Keane and Patrick Veira were proper midfielders look at there game to see what a proper central midfielders role is.. didn’t like the feller but Cantona hit the nail on the head when he said Didier Deschamps was nothing more than a water carrier.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Being old school I just like these kind of plodders like Rice.. Phillips Fabinho type players. Couldn’t bare Hamann or Mascherano either.. just feel like they steal a living from proper players. When I was growing up midfield was the hardest position to play because you had to be fit enough to go forward when the team attacked and get back when team was defending. Simply breaking up play and giving a two yard pass to a better player and nothing else was never enough. Roy Keane and Patrick Veira were proper midfielders look at there game to see what a proper central midfielders role is.. didn’t like the feller but Cantona hit the nail on the head when he said Didier Deschamps was nothing more than a water carrier.

Your brand of football died a while back. It’s no wonder you can’t support anyone anymore.

You’ll be telling us that Messi and Salah aren’t proper wingers next and that wingers peaked with Peter Beagrie and Brian Riggs.

The number 6 is probably the most important position nowadays.

Hence ”plodder” Rodri should have won the Balon D’Or this year.

 

[Phil1]

Your brand of football died a while back. It’s no wonder you can’t support anyone anymore.

You’ll be telling us that Messi and Salah aren’t proper wingers next and that wingers peaked with Peter Beagrie and Brian Riggs.

The number 6 is probably the most important position nowadays.

Hence ”plodder” Rodri should have won the Balon D’Or this year.

He’s a funny one. :-)

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

He’s a funny one. :-)

First generation of old people au fair with social media.

The pine for the fjords.

 

[BlueHammer85]

midfield was the hardest position to play because you had to be fit enough to go forward when the team attacked and get back when team was defending.

Lol,are you seriously suggesting Rice doesn’t do this ?!

Here’s some stats from 22/23 about the plodder


‘Rice is coveted by most of the Premier League's top clubs and it's easy to see why: the England midfielder's industrious work is backed up in the stats, winning possession more often than anyone else (334), making the most interceptions (63) and only eight players made more tackles (79) than he did across the campaign.

Indeed, that possession won total is the most by a player in a season since 2017-18 (Abdoulaye Doucoure, 345) and the sixth-most in a season on record since 2003-04.

Rice is also prolific in carrying the ball, ranking second for ball carries (702), ball carry distance (7,136m) and ball carry progress distance (3,827m) among midfielders, behind Rodri.

Only three midfielders made more successful long passes than Rice (151). Rice also covered the third-most distance in the Premier League this season, a total of 412km, which is almost the distance of running 10 marathons.’

 

[Goater=Legend]

Football heritage

Lewis and Palmer brings a tear to my eye

 

[Tom Ford]

Your brand of football died a while back. It’s no wonder you can’t support anyone anymore.

You’ll be telling us that Messi and Salah aren’t proper wingers next and that wingers peaked with Peter Beagrie and Brian Riggs.

The number 6 is probably the most important position nowadays.

Hence ”plodder” Rodri should have won the Balon D’Or this year.

You see.. this is what I mean about being taken in by the modern game, people nowadays get bogged down by tactics and statistics, opta this and opta that.. complete load of rubbish.. who cares how far a player runs surely it’s what he does with the ball which matters. I just think football is a simple game of pass and move it’s not what people want you to believe in that it’s a game of chess. If a team has better players then it’s all about how they apply themselves, tactics doesn’t come in it, if they play at 100% no matter what tactics the opposition employs won’t make a difference because the superior players will win, now if they don’t play to there optimum then there is a chance they will get beat... simple.. they just have to make sure they are right.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

You see.. this is what I mean about being taken in by the modern game, people nowadays get bogged down by tactics and statistics, opta this and opta that.. complete load of rubbish.. who cares how far a player runs surely it’s what he does with the ball which matters. I just think football is a simple game of pass and move it’s not what people want you to believe in that it’s a game of chess. If a team has better players then it’s all about how they apply themselves, tactics doesn’t come in it, if they play at 100% no matter what tactics the opposition employs won’t make a difference because the superior players will win, now if they don’t play to there optimum then there is a chance they will get beat... simple.. they just have to make sure they are right.

You keep thinking that tactics are irrelevant. You sound like Tony Pulis.