The obvious difference between Rice and Caicedo is that they don't even play the same role. Rice is Arsenal's primary ball-carrier, set-piece taker and has a much larger role in the attack than Caicedo has ever been allowed by virtue of either instruction or tactics. And while Rice has been given more and more attacking freedom, Caicedo has been given less and less. Rice even has the luxury of operating in a genuine double-pivot alongside Zubimendi, whereas Caicedo is tactically required to operate alone.

Caicedo, when in form, has been able to do both roles but as many people have pointed out, that was a miracle. It's unfair to run him into the ground while the club and its previous managers have given no serious thought to supporting him in midfield. Meanwhile, Arsenal went out and targeted Zubimendi precisely because they wanted to give Rice a complementary platform.

But for all the bluster, Rice has twice now been completely shown up by Vitinha and Neves. Caicedo was brilliant in the CWC but also before it all unravelled against PSG in the first leg.

What we see with Rice (and Zubimendi) are two 27 year olds in their absolute prime, in a team at its prime, and a model for Caicedo to reach. But Caicedo is two full years younger, and at a crossroads, and in a team that drifts somewhere between blindly optimistic hope and sheer chaos.

Edited June 23Jun 23 by SydneyChelsea

The obvious difference between Rice and Caicedo is that Rice is a limited centre back that has English PR while Caicedo has had to carry our midfield for two years straight due to the Argentinian prima donna sat twerking on the edge of the opposition box instead of doing a proper shift.

Was seen heading down the tunnel quite upset.

He may well be out a long, long time...

Burnt out and it's finally caught up to him.

Coming off like that is a worry, a big worry.

Now i understand why we allegedly want both Ruiz & Camara

No wonder the recent links to CM and why Enzo wants out. He would have been terribly exposed

Xabi downplayed the injury a bit, which I guess most managers would do. Its obvious we need another body in CM - Lavia can't last 90 (yet, hopefully that day consistently comes soon in PL), James out of position, Gusto even further out of position, untrusted Barco (although seems a decent option), and no idea on Henderson yet!

A serious injury to Caicedo would completely derail the season.

We need to sign someone to cover for him. Can't risk it.

37 minutes ago, Deino said:

No wonder the recent links to CM and why Enzo wants out. He would have been terribly exposed

f**k Enzo!

2 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Now i understand why we allegedly want both Ruiz & Camara

Do you believe we have a serious chance to get Ruiz, Sconnie?

Same as Kante, world class but often broke down.

1 hour ago, Scott said:

Same as Kante, world class but often broke down.

Has Caicedo ever even been injured for us? Or in his career? Not sure you can say he often breaks down

Henderson step up

And now the anxious wait to see how serious the injury is. Just please hope hes not out until Xmas. Last season Colwill and now Moi

Really have to hope this injury is minor… he’s going to be needed these next few months. Almost wish we had kept Essugo as a backup.

He's had a pretty bad year so far, but i still consider him one of the best in the world, this will be just a minor setback and i'm sure he will come back stronger than ever.

A lot of pressure on this guy to get back now.

Out of our other 4 midfielders, 2 are excellent but injury prone, 1 is over the hill and currently injured and 1 is unproven.

If everyone stays fit it is still an excellent midfield.

Do we know anything about him yet, or are we rocking up at the Emirates with a right back in midfield for the third game in a row?

10 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Do we know anything about him yet, or are we rocking up at the Emirates with a right back in midfield for the third game in a row?

If he was fine the club would have briefed it by now to appease the fans who are disappointed we didn't get a midfielder.

I'm afraid he may be out for a while.

If Caicedo is long-term injured we are completely f**ked. Without him we don't have a functioning midfield.

3 hours ago, yaz said:

If he was fine the club would have briefed it by now to appease the fans who are disappointed we didn't get a midfielder.

I'm afraid he may be out for a while.

I agree - the silence is not a good thing. On the other hand, I'm telling myself that if it was obviously an ACL or something catastrophic they would have been more aggressive on Monday and Tuesday.

I feel like it is one of those types of injuries like Palmer had last season. Something he will have to manage, which would mean he would be playing at 50%. I feel this way because Alonso said it was something they knew about.

The silence is deafening, but they’ve no reason to come out and make any comment on his condition - especially when the transfer window was still open.

Trying to stay optimistic that he was being very cautious, took it upon himself to call it and walked off without any help. Hopefully back after international break.

12 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Do we know anything about him yet, or are we rocking up at the Emirates with a right back in midfield for the third game in a row

Ironically, Caicedo first came to fame by single-handedly destroying Arsenal while playing as an inverted RB for Brighton