Why Declan Rice is among the world's elite Defensive Midfielders.

[Thread].

Declan Rice is a 21 year-old defensive midfielder who plays for West Ham. Here's an insight into why he is among the world's elite in his position.

Let's start off with the basic DM stats. According to this statistic,he comes 2nd or 1st in all these key stats for a DM . This is whilst playing for a struggling mid-table team as of now,which makes it even more impressive.

Here,we see his heatmap and other stats for a midfielder. He ranks in the top 5 for all of them except Passes completed. Based on the above two stats,we can conclude that he is already one of the best in the league in his position.

In this graph we see his passing stats. He is up there competing with Champions-League winning Fabinho and the experienced Rodri. But he excels in ball-carrying and has an air of rare composure,tackling elegantly. He has an exceptional pass completion rate too.

His exceptional long passing is a rare attribute for defensive midfielders,as most go in for rash tackles and distribute the ball to more creative outlets. Rice is so good and so key for West Ham that he fulfils both the creative and defensive role.

No midfielder in the Premier League has made more tackles than Rice in 19/20 and only three have made more interceptions. The only other man to rank among the top 10 in both metrics is Leicester's Wilfred Ndidi - but Rice has been far tidier in his use of the ball.

CONCLUSION
He can play at CB and DM,he has a lot of composure,leads by example,has time on his side (only 21),and already one of the best in the Premier League in his position. He will be a HUGE asset to any team he plays for.

CONCLUSION (2)
Another season like 19/20 and he will undoubtedly be an elite midfielder. He is a rare talent,combining all positives of a midfielder into one. A full England international too,he is all set to have a stellar career.

END OF THREAD. Likes and RTs appreciated