Maresca Reveals What Sets Declan Rice Apart from Chelsea's Caicedo
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has cautioned supporters that drawing parallels between Blues midfielder Moisés Caicedo and Arsenal's Declan Rice is unfeasible due to their distinct positional responsibilities.
Caicedo has garnered significant recognition this campaign—accolades that Chelsea fans will contend he merited a year earlier—and is currently being celebrated as potentially the premier holding midfielder globally.
Parallels with Arsenal's Rice have been frequent even prior to the buildup for Sunday's clash between these London adversaries. Chelsea's manager Enzo Maresca holds a distinctive perspective, having collaborated with both talents throughout his coaching journey.
Maresca: Rice Can Do Anything
"It was a somewhat different period when I was at West Ham," remarked Maresca, who served as Manuel Pellegrini's assistant for 18 months between 2018 and 2019.
"[Rice] was more youthful, I conducted numerous additional training sessions with Declan, individually, and you could observe that he was already exceptional.
"He was training with reserve team players as a centre-back. Manuel Pellegrini chose to deploy him in the senior squad as a midfielder but [he] was at a different stage compared to Moisés. However, you could tell that he was already tremendously talented."
Rice has subsequently transitioned from the defensive position he occupied at West Ham, and Maresca considers his current role too distinct to draw comparisons with Caicedo.
"He's not operating as a holding midfielder," Maresca emphasized. "He's playing in advanced areas, he's functioning like Enzo Fernandez. It's a completely different role.
"It represents growth for him and reflects Mikel [Arteta]'s influence. He is an exceptional talent and he's a well-rounded player. He can defend, he can contribute in attack, he can handle everything."
Arteta: Rice's Impact on Arsenal 'Huge'
As Maresca highlighted, Rice's development at West Ham began as a central defender, before he truly established himself as a defensive midfielder. He was recruited to fulfill a comparable function at Arsenal but now possesses considerably more offensive liberty in Arteta's system.
"He can adjust to whatever challenge you present him with," Arteta elaborated when discussing this evolution. "But currently that progressive mindset and everything that lies ahead of him is likely much more beneficial for the squad. He has merited the opportunity to expand that responsibility, to become increasingly significant, to be deeply involved in everything we accomplish.
"He's part of the leadership circle, which is extremely valuable as well, and it's a genuine presence. Sometimes you don't require wearing the captain's armband to feel truly connected, truly influential and truly vital to the team."
Arteta proceeded to acknowledge he thought Rice was at his peak during the initial months of his Arsenal career, but the emerging offensive dimension of his play has elevated the England star's abilities to unprecedented levels.
"Most likely yes, a year or two back," Arteta conceded. "But now working with him daily and understanding and building rapport with him in the manner that I have, we're going to achieve more. Because he desires more and he's going to attain more.
"The squad understands him better, his influence is expanding within the team, the effect that he has on the squad is enormous and we'll discover methods to make it even superior."
Rice: I Voted for Caicedo for Team of the Year
Rice also recognized the distinctions between himself and Caicedo as he revealed choosing the Chelsea midfielder in his ballot for the 2024–25 PFA Team of the Year. Liverpool pair Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister eventually accompanied Rice in the selection.
"I hold tremendous respect for Moisés Caicedo," he shared with CBS Sports. "I selected him last year in my PFA Team of the Year. I believed he was exceptional.
"There are numerous comparisons made, but we're operating in different roles."