There is an old adage in football that players can become better when they are not playing.
This was certainly the case with Gilberto Silva, when many fans only began to appreciate his insane talent when he fractured his back ruling him out for nearly a year. It was only when he did not play did many fans realise that what he contributed allowed others to flourish, and that he was not an invisible player, he was an invisible wall.
Last night the stock of Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka shot up quicker than the S&P500 following Trump saying the US will leave Iran ‘whether we have a deal or not’.
England lost 1-nil to a hardworking Japan side. They were overwhelmed in the middle of the park and struggled to create out wide. There only threat, ironically, was from corners. Many of which were poorly taken.
It baffles me how fans of opposing clubs dismiss Rice as an average player. Just because you might prefer one of your own (Man City with Rodri, Moises Caicedo with Chelsea) should not lead you to the conclusion that an opponents player is not very good. All 3 are amonmgst the best central midfielders in the world.
You then have Man U fans who continually make the Rice v Bruno Fernandes argument, ignoring the fact that they are two completely different midfielders who influence the game in complete different ways. If you were making a “best Premier League XI”, the midfield three would be Fernandes, Rodri, and then one of Caicedo or Rice depending on your preference.
Newcastle are another set of fans who dismiss Rice’s talents, trying to put both Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali above him. The irony is they have inflated the ability of Tonali so much, the Italian now wants to leave for a bigger club.
Finally West Ham fans hate Rice because he left them. When Rice was at West Ham, they labelled him the best midfielder in the world. They day he left, he was overrated. That is football tribalism in a nutshell.
Anyone that is able to put aside their tribalistic traits would recognise that Declan Rice is one of the best in the world, and is the first name in midfield on Thomas Tuchel’s teamsheet.
The Anderson v Wharton, Foden v Bellingham v Rodgers v Palmer debates will continue long into the World Cup, but there is no arguments of Declan Rice. He is simply England’s best. And last night showed how important he was to England as Anderson struggled to step up to the “senior midfielder” role and Kobbie Manioo looking like a lost little boy next to him.
Bukayo Saka is another who has been criticised heavily this season.
Yes, the headline grabbers have not been there. His goal and assist contribution has been lost. But the underling statistics are still amongst the best in the Premier League.
Only Wayne Rooney has been named England Men’s Player of the Year more times than Saka. And he is still only 24.
Saka is still England’s best all-round attacker and, like Rice, is one of the first names on Tuchel’s teamsheet. It will be Saka, Kane and then two others. And last nights game showed that.
England had 11 corners last night and failed to work the goalkeeper from any of them. Maybe now the criticism of Arsenal and our set pieces will stop? Had Rice and Saka been playing, the delivery would have been better and we might have scored a goal.
Instead, no Saka and Rice led to a dour 1-nil defeat to Japan.
Two other players to remind the world of the talent were down in England’s U21s.
Mikel Arteta has been criticised for not playing Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri this season, with the later sent to Marseille on loan to gain some first team experience. The truth is we are in a title race, which gives us little space to give youngsters the minutes they need to develop.
5 minutes here, 10 minutes there when games are comfortably won will do nothing for Lewis-Skelly or Nwaneri. And right now for them to get more minutes they will need to be playing better than Piero Hincapiรฉ and Riccardo Calafiori (for MLS), and Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Martin Odegaard, Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard (for Nwaneri).
The guys ahead of MLS and Nwaneri in the Arsenal pecking order are top, top players, all of who have lots of senior football under their belt and are regulars for their country (Madueke aside, but he has Saka ahead of him).
Last night for England U21s, the pair put on a performance that shows they are too good for the U21 level. And yes, I get it was only Moldova.
MLS ran the game from left back. He did what he was doing last night – too strong for anyone who got near him, driving with the ball into the middle of the park, and releasing it to a teammate at the right time. His highlights can be seen below:
One man who would have taken notice of MLS was England manager Tuchel.
The left back spot is still open, and whilst Nico O’Reilly and Tino Livramento may be getting more regular football, MLS offers something neither of them can – control and forward mobility in the middle.
It will be interesting to see what Arsenal do with MLS this summer. He is too talented to sit on the bench, but will still behind Hincape and Calafiori in the pecking order.
The club may decide to let Calafiori go, if a big enough bid comes in and taking into account his injuries. Alternatively they might decide to loan out MLS to a Premier League side which pushes the problem 12 months down the road. There is also the possibility of Calafiori leaving us.
I do not overly buy into the theory that MLS’s future is in the midfield. It is a bit like Trent Alexander-Arnold where fans often spoke about him playing more centrally, but it is a different game in the middle of the park. MLS would also need a lot more development in that position, and would probably need a loan deal to play an entire season there. But would any PL side loan MLS to play central midfield, a position he has never regularly played?
A ยฃ50m bid from Manchester United would be a huge deal to turn down for your 3rd choice left back. Arsenal may also look to see what Liverpool have done with Jarell Quansah and accept a lower fee from a European side with a buy back option. Would selling MLS for ยฃ30m with a ยฃ50m buy back clause be the best option? We would basically be paying someone like Bayer Leverkusen ยฃ20m to develop him for 3-years before potentially resigning him.
Ethan Nwaneri was the beneficiary of MLS’s dominate play last night with 2 goals, and he could have grabbed himself a hat trick.
Like MLS, Nwaneri is too good for U21 football, but not currently good enough to be playing regularly for The Arsenal. It is also hard to see how he can get his way into the England senior set up taking into account the abundance of options Tuchel has on the right wing and at number 10.
The slight concern with Nwaneri is that he ends up like Harvey Elliott, where a lack of minutes hamper his progression and he never really kicks on. Elliott made his England U21 debut at just 18 and 4-years later was still playing at that level.
It is easy to forget that both Nwaneri and MLS are still only 19.
MLS was the youngest man in Lee Carsley’s England squad, whilst only 3 players were younger than Nwaneri. This highlights where they are right now – easily the best players for England at U21 level but struggling for game time at senior level.
But last night would have been a reminder to everyone just how good they are. And whilst they might not make it at Arsenal, they should have long careers for both club and country and bring in huge fees if we do decide to cash in.
I have a sneaky feeling that MLS will be in Tuchel’s final England squad. I think the German likes him and put him in the U21s to both get him some game time and see how he responds. MLS passed the test with flying colours.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 