Chelsea player’s “development” in one area has already made him league’s best claims pundit | OneFootball

Usually the October international break is mainly made up of bored people comparing Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard.

But this time around there’s been a fresh, modern angle on that boring old story – Declan Rice vs. Moises Caicedo. Both players have had superb starts to the season, and given they both moved for huge money in the same summer, it’s been natural to compare them.

Caicedo and Rice in an arms race to become complete midfielder

Moises Caicedo and Declan Rice compared statistically.

The Sky Sports piece on the comparison has plenty of interesting points to make. While they’re both up at the top of the table in terms of passing (both quantity and accuracy), other areas make their differences very clear.

Rice is ranked 6th in chances created and 8th in take ons completed, showing how much he adds to the Arsenal attack. Caicedo, by contrast, is just 65th and 17th.

But defensively, Caicedo is on a different planet. He’s in the top 5 Premier League midfielders in interceptions, recoveries, duels and tackles. Rice is outside the top 15 in all categories.

The writer of that piece claims that Rice has been pushed forward because he can’t compete defensively with the things Caicedo does. While the Ecuador star has improved his attacking ability, Rice hasn’t improved his defensive ability in the same way.

“His development in that area pales in comparison to Caicedo’s further up the pitch,” they write.

Ultimately, each is slightly different, and being used in quite different ways in different teams. They’re both world class. Stats will never tell you the whole story anyway.

In other news…

Estevao Willian has been the other talk of the town in this international break, and a great interview with one of his former coaches reveals where he was forced to improve as a youngster.

Meanwhile at the back, Chelsea have been told to target Jarrad Branthwaite by former player Pat Nevin.