There’s a lot of discussion about who should be crowned Premier League player of the year, with Arsenal’s Declan Rice at the heart of the debate.
Arsenal are getting so much backlash this season, but what critics fail to address is that the Gunners are the best team in the Premier League by a long stretch.
Mikel Arteta’s squad is superb, brimming with depth and quality, with one of the most important players being Rice.
Some think Rice is a contender to win the Ballon d’Or because of how consistently brilliant he’s been this season, but on social media, rival fans think differently.
Can any current Arsenal player win the Ballon d’Or?
Manchester United fans believe Bruno Fernandes would be a worthy winner, and as a result, have started to compare the attacking midfielder to Rice.
What those involved in the debate on X and other platforms do not realise is that, by comparing Rice to Fernandes, they’re only reinforcing why the Arsenal man is the best.
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Comparing Declan Rice to Moises Caicedo and Bruno Fernandes only proves how complete he is
Fernandes is a superb player, a creative maestro who has done Manchester United many favours this season.
The issue for rivals fans is that, by comparing him to Rice, they’re suggesting that the Arsenal midfielder has a comparable skillset.
That’s a huge compliment to Rice, who is a defensive midfielder by trade, not a creative one like Fernandes.
It’s telling of how complete Rice is, particularly when remembering that comparisons between the Arsenal star and others did not begin and end with Fernandes.
Fill the blanks: I’d be least surprised if ________ won Premier League Player of the Year.
Earlier in the season, there was so much talk about who was better out of Rice and Moises Caicedo, a number six-type midfielder.
So, if Rice can be simultaneously compared to Fernandes, an attacking midfielder, and Caicedo, a defensive midfielder, what does that say about the Arsenal man?
What it says is that he’s complete, he has a rounded skillset that sees him worthy of being compared to one of the best defensive midfielders in the league and one of the best attacking ones.
Rice has it all; the debates unknowingly endorse that, which is quite humorous.
The individual awards debate will carry over until the end of the season, and they’ll be fascinating, given that Rice is still able to win four trophies at Arsenal, while Fernandes’ luck ran out in January.
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