DECLAN RICE THREAD

If Chelsea were to sign Declan Rice, here's a Thread explaining why he would be an amazing holding midfielder option.

Used stats to back up my points. Would really appreciate it if you could give it a read, like and RT

Over the years, Rice has transitioned from centre-back into a natural lone and pivot defensive midfielder, and he has made the holding midfield position his own while playing for West Ham United. He's also the club's vice-captain behind Marc Noble.

His metrics make him one of the best defensive midfielders in the league (per 90, percentile rank):
- 2.34/3.21 tackles won, 96%
- 6.24/21.6 successful pressures, 81%
- 11.8 recoveries, 99%
- 2.05 interceptions, 94%
- 1.63 clearances, 55%
- 1.34/2.21 aerial duels won, 55%

In addition, Rice is constantly aware of his surroundings. In the defensive play, he reduces runs or passes in the central areas and specialises in zonal over man marking. In the offensive play, he guards the central defensive area and constantly tries to evade his markers.

Because he's instructed to guard the centre of the pitch, he rarely drives forward with the ball. While this is highly beneficial to ensuring more solidity at the back from counter-attacks, it means Rice isn't involved in the build up as much as the other midfielders.

In terms of passing, he's very direct and prefers to avoid doing extraordinary passes. His passes rarely get intercepted, as shown by the stats (passes completed per 90, completion percentage):
- 38.8 total, 86.0%
- 0.87 short, 50.8%
- 27.4 medium, 91.7%
- 10.6 long, 77.8%

However, like any young player, Rice is prone to have some weaknesses that need to be worked on.
One of them is his passing when under pressure from an opponent, at 8.50 per 90, putting him in the 63% percentile. It's much lower than Jorginho's 16.1, putting him in the 98%.

Another problem is Rice's total number of completed passes per 90, as it's lower than a lot of defensive midfielders, especially Jorginho (74.1). However, this stems from West Ham's style of play, as they play a direct approach and don't build from the back (unlike Chelsea do).

Some might also add Rice's ball carrying ability and frequency as an issue too, but again that stems from West Ham style of play which encourages him to sit back and guard the central defensive areas of the pitch, something Jorginho does frequently as well at Chelsea too.

In short, Rice would be best suited to the holding midfield role. He's a natural lone DM with amazing defensive ability, but will need some work on his passing. Given how he's not suited to the building from the back approach, putting him at centre-back would be a bad idea.

However, what the passing stats of Jorginho have shown me is that his value to the team can still be important, especially to Rice who can learn from him to improve that part of his game.

And that's the END OF THE THREAD! Hopefully this helps you understand why I am excited with the *potential* signing of Declan Rice.

& appreciated!

Stats were used from @fbref