22 hours ago, Bob stark said:

I haven't watched arse for a while, so I want to see how arse play. I remember rice usually play in ezo role, more of a 10 on the ball and 6 off the ball.

But vs west ham, he was the deepest dm. He just picked up the ball from cb and pretty much ran the game.

Not from what I remember. Tactically I think he started as the deepest out of him, Odegard and Eze. But Odegard left early in the game and they brought on Zubimendi and pushed Rice forward.

The fact that Rice was picking the ball up from the CB and then running things doesn't say much against West Ham though. Raya could have dribbled out the front of his box and probably could have got right through their midfield.

Edited October 15, 2025Oct 15 by WhiteWall

On 14/10/2025 at 06:36, Bob stark said:

I haven't watched arse for a while, so I want to see how arse play. I remember rice usually play in ezo role, more of a 10 on the ball and 6 off the ball.

But vs west ham, he was the deepest dm. He just picked up the ball from cb and pretty much ran the game.

Basically played as an 8 against West Ham. Had to sub Zubimendi on because they were struggling for any control (Rice can't make a progressive pass or play out under pressure to save his life) and scored as soon as he came on.

1 hour ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Basically played as an 8 against West Ham. Had to sub Zubimendi on because they were struggling for any control (Rice can't make a progressive pass or play out under pressure to save his life) and scored as soon as he came on.

10 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Real Madrid would have to pay triple digits, and they won't do that.

It's Real Madrid, and his book value is considerably lower than triple figures.

19 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

It's Real Madrid, and his book value is considerably lower than triple figures.

In 2027 he’ll still have 5 years remaining.

11 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

In 2027 he’ll still have 5 years remaining.

Right, and he's one of the last ones amortised over 8 years rather than 5 (rule change effective from Jan 2024) so his book value is around £90m

They will have no problem paying £120m for him, they are flush with cash from a lack of spending.

Edited October 15, 2025Oct 15 by SydneyChelsea

I think the one area Rice excels is his ball carrying skills. He is probably one of the best in the PL, and the one little flaw in Caicedo.

4 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Right, and he's one of the last ones amortised over 8 years rather than 5 (rule change effective from Jan 2024) so his book value is around £90m

They will have no problem paying £120m for him, they are flush with cash from a lack of spending.

Isn’t Madrid’s policy to spend big on the best young talents; your Guler, Mastantuono, Bellingham and Endrick, and tap up the older players to run down their contracts and leave on a free?

Caicedo will be a young 24yr old in Nov, but unfortunately falls in the 2 category. They also already have Camavinga, Tchouameni & Valverede who can all play his role. What they need and are after is a Kroos type player that can carry the ball.

22 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

I reckon he ditched them because they were pushing for a move

That said I think he ends up at Madrid in the summer post-World Cup, or in 2027. They are crying out for him

I am not sure that is the case. Most of the time player ditch agent after some contract negotiation either with their current or prospective employer.

Makes sense given he is currently on £190kpw with the Champions League pay raise, I'd imagine next negotiations will be for better incentives.

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Makes sense given he is currently on £190kpw with the Champions League pay raise, I'd imagine next negotiations will be for better incentives.

Chuckled at “he is already on a big salary..”. Not sure the club’s current stance on wages will hold beyond next season for your Caicedo’s & Palmer’s. Of the top 10 players on the Ballon D’or list, 8 were earning at least 2x Palmer’s salary.

1 hour ago, markpitts said:

Chuckled at “he is already on a big salary..”. Not sure the club’s current stance on wages will hold beyond next season for your Caicedo’s & Palmer’s. Of the top 10 players on the Ballon D’or list, 8 were earning at least 2x Palmer’s salary.

Yeah at some point we will have to adopt a structure similar to Liverpool’s, where instead of all the players earning a wage near the median, only the top 10% of performers earn the current market wage for players at a similar level.

He was borderline a luxury player today in the sense he played at 80% and still made everything around him work and took over the midfield. Hes that good.

14 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

He was borderline a luxury player today in the sense he played at 80% and still made everything around him work and took over the midfield. Hes that good.

Best DM in the world in my opinion.

Of course I'm bias, but for me he's the standout midfielder in world football right now. Crazy to think if you go back in this thread there are people saying how crap he is.

Best player in the club and best midfielder in the league possibly the planet

On 06/12/2023 at 22:33, Nibs said:

We might have taken 3 points off Brighton at the weekend but boy, we need a whole lot more to make up for the way they have mugged us with Caicedo. £115m for Mr Average. Lost count of the times he f**ked up tonight and he gives us very little. When others come back from suspension and injury he has to be benched.

On 06/12/2023 at 22:39, dansubrosa said:

To get the best out of your players you need to have the right tactics. Caicedo doesn’t strike me as a player who suits possession based team but we’ve brought him.

I think he’ll become a vital player for us in time, I’m not too worried about it. He was poor tonight for sure.

On 06/12/2023 at 22:49, big blue said:

Surprised at how poor he is at winning the ball back. I suppose we were spolit with Kante, but Caicedo needs take some responsibility on the pitch, and tighten up his touch in possession.

On 07/12/2023 at 07:28, Nibs said:

He's not fine. I know the price tag is not his fault but you spend anything upwards of £50M on a midfielder (never mind £115M), you expect a proper player and he looks anything but right now.

Not sure what his strength actually is. At times he looks clumsy and other times he was almost hiding. Really poor - far from fine.

 

This is a very funny thread when you go backwards 😂

He is sensational. Bare in mind he is only 23, an age where a lot of players are still considered a prospect. What a top performance again. Sensational 👏

It is actually his birthday today and he turns 24. Happy Birthday Caicedo. Grateful to have him!

23 minutes ago, STATS said:

He is sensational. Bare in mind he is only 23, an age where a lot of players are still considered a prospect. What a top performance again. Sensational 👏

It is actually his birthday today and he turns 24. Happy Birthday Caicedo. Grateful to have him!

Let's hope BlueCo don't have a "Logan's Run" style upper age limit on the squad LOL. Moises must be getting close !

Two moments I remember in the match yesterday very clearly - the magnificent assist in their 6 yard area for the goal, and a hooked clearance to avert danger in our 6 yard area with our defenders nowhere. Opposite ends of the pitch ... maximum impact !

14 hours ago, bisright1 said:

This is a very funny thread when you go backwards 😂

Not really, he sucked and then got better, I don't think that's particularly controversial

It is why people are still so frustrated with Enzo Fernandez, he has the benefit of far more time and far more support yet still looks mediocre on a good day.

21 hours ago, bisright1 said:

This is a very funny thread when you go backwards 😂

He might be close to Kante levels now, but to be fair, he was pony in those first few months - almost Bakayoko like!!

14 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Not really, he sucked and then got better, I don't think that's particularly controversial

It is why people are still so frustrated with Enzo Fernandez, he has the benefit of far more time and far more support yet still looks mediocre on a good day.

Aye I wasn't suggesting anyone was controversial or wrong to state those opinions. But with the benefit of hindsight seeing him slagged off, complaints about how hard he worked, how Brighton must be laughing, is just quite funny now.

I wanted to trawl through because I have some non Chelsea mates who will confidently state he was rubbish in his first season with us. Which isn't true, around Jan the comments turned. He had a bad 3-4 months and then turned.

9 hours ago, Nibs said:

He might be close to Kante levels now, but to be fair, he was pony in those first few months - almost Bakayoko like!!

I feel like that is a bit of a misconception, a lot of the negativity was mainly due to the Penalty he gave away against West Ham on debut and with the current "Meme" Culture the vultures just piled on for a lot of the early season.

He wasnt as consistent as he has been over the last couple of years but that is to be expected with a new young team and also partly due to Poch's suicidal football, to describe his early games Bakayoko like is just criminal in my opinion.

By his own admission the pressure of the fee and new club expectations impacted him. As did Poch’s system. He really started to find his feet in that system once Gallagher was next to him, and he’s gone up multiple levels since then.

Just an immense player. There are players we’ve had over the years that when their name is on the team sheet you have a sense of reassurance - modern era examples, Terry, Carvalho, A. Cole, Maka, Essien, Lamps, Drogs, Hazard, Costa, Ivanovic, Dave, Willian - list could go on. He’s in good company already at this early stage of his Chelsea career.

Some are saying he is already better than Kante, I don't agree personally. Kante's ability to break up an attack and get us moving forward again is unmatched. An injury free Kante had a cleaner tackle, carried the ball better and dribbled better. Caicedo has a better shot and can pass a bit better. Pressing and work rate is the same.

15 hours ago, Imran_CFC said:

I feel like that is a bit of a misconception, a lot of the negativity was mainly due to the Penalty he gave away against West Ham on debut and with the current "Meme" Culture the vultures just piled on for a lot of the early season.

He wasnt as consistent as he has been over the last couple of years but that is to be expected with a new young team and also partly due to Poch's suicidal football, to describe his early games Bakayoko like is just criminal in my opinion.

I was joking - although he was bad to start with.