Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo will both play key roles when Arsenal take on Chelsea in a tense London derby on Sunday, but in very different positions.
The endless comparisons between Moises Caicedo and Declan Rice are so pointless and tiresome. And that begs the question: are you really watching the match? They play different positions.
That’s completely ridiculous. It’s like comparing Cole Palmer to Bukayo Saka. Different players who can play different roles as needed. But they’re like chalk and cheese. But there’s definitely more to come before Sunday’s summit showdown.
In my opinion, Caicedo is the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League. Yes, he can cover ground and move forward like N’Golo Kante used to do.
He is different from Arsenal midfielder Martin Zvimendi. He pretty much sits back and orders Rice and either Ebelesi Eze or Martin Odegaard to break into the forward line. But Zubimendi does things differently than Caicedo.
read more: Declan Rice shows his true colors with gesture towards Moises Caicedo ahead of Chelsea vs Arsenal gameread more: Arsenal face harsh reality of Liverpool as Arne Slott’s team collapses – ‘Shocking’
Caicedo is amazing. Predatory, powerful and intelligent. He reads the game very well and has great power on the pitch. he’s a great player.
This week, when the Arsenal midfielder was interviewed following the win over Bayern Munich, Rais even acknowledged this, paying his usual lovely compliment to Caicedo.
Rice said: “I have a lot of respect for Moises Caicedo. I voted him in the PFA Team of the Year last year. I thought he was outstanding. There are a lot of comparisons, but we play different positions.”
He’s absolutely right and he should know it. Rice evolved into an incredible all-action midfielder at Arsenal. You would call him No8 but that doesn’t do him justice because he’s everywhere.
But now he’s a much more offensive force than Caicedo. Rice loves to drive forward and rush into the opposition box to score.
His offensive power now exceeds his defensive power. Mikel Arteta has worked with Rice to improve him and develop him into one of the best midfielders of his type in the world.
England saw that and found a player in Elliott Anderson to play the number six role to remove Rice from the lead. If they can figure it out, the England trio of Rice, Anderson and Jude Bellingham could be number one in the world next summer.
Arsenal fans sing the song “Declan Rice – we got him for half the price”. They signed him over two years ago, but I think his performance against Bayern was the best I’ve seen him play in an Arsenal shirt. he was incredible.
Caicedo has reached an amazing level this season. He’s very consistent. And in some matches this season, for example against Liverpool and Tottenham, he has shown a shining presence as one of the best players on the pitch. It took him a while to settle, but now £115m looks like a bargain.
Arsenal made a move for Caicedo in January, before signing Rice. They actually wanted both. It wasn’t one or the other. Could they afford that? That may be a problem for PSR.
But they could definitely play together. why? Because they are the best at what they do. But we should stop comparing. Because there is nothing to compare it to.
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