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I wouldn’t go as far as to say ‘****’ but I would say any midfielder who is known primarily for ‘box-crashing’ isn’t truly world class and I think Rice is a good example of this. To be a world class midfielder, you need to be elite at at least three or four things and taking corners and making late runs in the box just doesn’t meet the threshold, in my opinion.

I never saw him play but Matthäus was considered a world class box-to-box midfielder and even won a Ballon d’Or but he excelled at multiple things. Work rate, stamina, leadership but also technical abilities like ball-carrying, ball-winning, positioning, vision, passing range, shooting, composure on the ball etc.

I genuinely think Valverde is a better midfielder than Rice and maybe even Bellingham as well. Going back to the point of the original X post, Matt Crooks is good at ‘box-crashing’ (goal against Wednesday is a perfect example) but it’s not his only strength. He’s very composed on the ball and technical for a guy of his size.
 
If we win , I see it as there isn’t really a bad result in this one, but in case we don’t win a boro win is better
my thinking is a win for us and Boro and all of a sudden Millwall are looking over their shoulders too, whereas the Millwall win keeps them out of harms way for another week....but like you say as long as we win it doesn't matter.....all in our hands .....eep
 
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