Rice or Odegaard: Premier League Player of the Season debate gets heated 🔥 | ESPN FC

The ESPN FC Live crew react to the Premier League’s official Player of the Season nominees, and make their picks in order from the eight players listed.
The nominees:Declan Rice (Arsenal)Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
Phil Foden (Man City)
Erling Haaland (Man City)
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)Alexander Isak (Newcastle)
Cole Palmer (Chelsea)Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
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[@igboamaezeokechukwu397]

Ødegaard is clearly player of the season

[@HumanBeingsRThinkingBeings]

- VARsenal fizzled out of all Comps - VARsenal 2nd best in PL to "regressed" City - VARsenal could go Trophyless - VARsenal player for POTY - Rodri not even nominated - City Vs Establishment,no?😂

[@nicknic28292490]

@@HumanBeingsRThinkingBeings I see what you did there, you clever minx! You put VAR in front of the club name to symbolise that they get a lot of VAR decisions. How original!

[@RichardStone-xk2px]

For winning nothing? 😅

[@andrewlee8843]

except his first half of the seaon being ghostegard

[@munyathedreamer]

Odegaard has been phenominal this season. His ball control is just insane

[@theach84]

The reason we have scored most goals with no striker and Martinelli out of commission is odegard. He literally stitches most of our offense together. Rice is very nice but our defense is more bc of Gabriel Saliba than rice. Rice stands out more bc his actions and contributions are pace & power related so a lot clearer to notice. Odegard also contributes a lot defensively

[@nicknic28292490]

@@theach84 Arent you pretty much out of every competition?

[@RichardStone-xk2px]

The Real Madrid reject Missing 'Won Nothing' Ghostagaard 😅

[@RichardStone-xk2px]

@@theach84 The reason why your small club who u pretend to support haven't won fcuk all in 4 years is because you're clueless captain Missing 'Won Nothing' Ghostagaard goes missing when it matters

[@achuthp.k4567]

Ødegaard's not the kind of player you can judge with statistics. His contributions in pitch is invaluable for Arsenal. He is their press starter and tempo chager. He is Gunner's creative brain, his defensive contributions is just sublime for a playmaker, a tireless player with extra ordinary engine, plays with his heart out with out any rest in every game, such intelligent and calm player who is a role model for every young player.

[@thomasgundersen8975]

Best comment i read.

[@Kobble8]

As an Arsenal, both have been superb, including Gabriel, Saliba, and Saka. But, I have to go with Odegaard. Almost every game, he’s the one controlling the tempo, starting build up from deep, as well as going forward and creating multiple chances (that have unfortunately been wasted by our forwards at times). He leads and presses like crazy from start to finish. Involved in every phase of play. On top of that, his technical ability is superb

[@sidbob1215]

He is the Oxford dictionary definition of a ghost in big games.

[@okpolee]

He has been our best player this season. I dont understand the uproar

[@Kobble8]

@@sidbob1215 Another weird myth that people say just to say

[@theach84]

@@sidbob1215that’s a lie

[@sidbob1215]

@@theach84 how? Nothing against city in either game Nothing against Bayern in either leg Nothing against Liverpool in 3 games bar a handball he got away with and a set piece. Nothing against villa in either game He played one pass against Porto and beyond that, once again over two legs, he did nothing. Waving your hands about at the fans, which he does a lot does not mean he’s playing well. He goes missing more than anyone in your squad.

[@evzsd6453]

van djik on that list is criminal

[@dereomiebi977]

Saka no where close to Odegaard.. But Rodri is a Big Miss.. this is CrimiNAL.. but Odegaard, Rodri and Rice for me That's The Top 3

[@AsHu_Omni]

Rice has been phenomenal, but without Odegaard, there would be no title race this season or last season.

[@KudakwasheKapungu]

Odegaard is Arsenal's best player..

[@pheniangkhiam699]

I'm a Man City fan and i think Odegaard is better than Rice

[@man.q]

true

[@daverobertson623]

Van Dijk instesd of Gabriel is criminal

[@Tulanwarrior]

this is the real crime

[@alet-poke6928]

Odegaard BOSSES the midfield… enough said

[@fazilraza9594]

Odeegaard

[@ChevalNektosha]

$.4.3 billion in revenue a year ,ESPN still has not spent a cent in improving the pundits camera and audio setups

[@esperandodiabela1766]

They fell in love with being scared of corona xP

[@oluwaseungabriel209]

Odegaard by far

[@personanongrata1213]

They have Van Dijk but not Gabriel or Saliba?? Rice is immense but he is a little below the level of Rodri. Ridiculous not to pick -at least- one of Arsenal's central defenders are the best in EPL by far!

[@ofusowre7620]

Clearly the best defense in the league. Pick one. If they insist on a Liverpool player then they should pick McAllister.

[@dotunwole6051]

If you ask for the parameters used to nominate, 6 Arsenal players will be there... Saliba and Gabriel has the best Defensive stats, Ben white, best in his position, Rice, Ode, even Star boy....

[@ofusowre7620]

@@dotunwole6051 You re right. And the rest are City players to be fair.

[@edzico1908]

GABRIEL MAHGALESE!!!!!!!!

[@PavanbnGujjar]

Odegaard for me..rice has saved arsenal many times but odegaard dictates how arsenal plays..

[@mohra968]

Odegaard has been phenomenal

[@vulcan1068]

rodri🤷

[@nicobailey3264]

If it's not Ollie it's foden simple as that

[@Anthony_Molosi]

Saliba Gabriel Saka Rodri

[@ChimezieOkoro-rb6yu]

Gabriel for me is player of the season

[@sidbob1215]

@@ChimezieOkoro-rb6yuwe’re talking football not rugby. Although he does get away week in week out with playing rugby on a football pitch.

[@ChimezieOkoro-rb6yu]

@@sidbob1215are you stupid

[@_MFender]

@@sidbob1215wtf lol

[@RichardStone-xk2px]

Only one of them players will win something this season. The other 3 play for Arsenal 😅

[@SlimClipper]

Saka clear of both. Criminally underrated.

[@liquid7105]

lol no

[@drdassler]

Saka's underrated? Is that a joke? By who? Everybody wanks over him constantly.

[@Kobble8]

Any Arsenal fan that watches Arsenal every week definitely wouldn’t put Saka there. He’s still class though, but the other 2 including Saliba and Gabriel have been much more consistent this season

[@romainesmith2533]

Facts

[@In_my_own_mind]

All Saka does is going past a player (after being supplied by Odegaard) and then shoot. His shot accuracy is poor 34% which means he even miss the target /the goal, 7 out of 10 fimes..

[@Kobble8]

Both very convincing arguments. Just shows the quality of the two of them. Arsenal must be grateful to have them

[@yasheebfaridi2888]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="40">0:40</a> Pure Facts.

[@AshelyBarnes-no2tw]

Rodri biggest robbery ever ,Rice best season still not better than a Rodri off season

[@frankkkbard0n315]

no way, he has been making a lot mistakes lately, Rice Clear

[@russellward4624]

​@@frankkkbard0n315what mistakes?

[@sidbob1215]

@@frankkkbard0n315dear me 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@mkram2154]

The reason why Arsenal defence so good this season is because of that brilliant pressing system conducted by Martin Odegaard upfront. And he made sure his circle of players including Rice and Saka to follow him everywhere. He is the best.

[@runzmusicworldwide9925]

Where is bukayo saka? Let’s me real here

[@FredEmberg4444]

Saka? Didn't he cut inside and shoot from 20 yards over the bar a hundred times? I think he's in the "Most Overrated PL Player" category.

[@obeda91]

​@@FredEmberg4444do you know how many times Odegaard has shot over the bar this season? Way more than Saka. Saka is not flashy but efficient

[@delhen21]

@@obeda91 Bruh Salah has more goal contributions this season than Saka in arguably his worst season ever under Klopp and people still think he deserves to be nominated when Salah didn't even make the cut.

[@Pwnziillaaaa]

Ødegaard has been absolute filth

[@RichardStone-xk2px]

He's won fcuk all again 😅

[@Pwnziillaaaa]

@@RichardStone-xk2px 115

[@RichardStone-xk2px]

@Pwnziillaaaa 115 excuses for why Arsenal haven't won a title in 20 years? Save it chump as I've heard them all before 😅

[@Pwnziillaaaa]

@@RichardStone-xk2px you support a plastic team you fanny 🤣

[@RichardStone-xk2px]

@@Pwnziillaaaa Really?,Which team is that then?

[@mature1]

Odegaard

[@sureshprabhu255]

Conspiracy theories suggest palmer will win this award as he is young and upcoming english player!!

[@eddiechea3603]

They are trying hard to put Rice on the same level as Rodri or try to make it seem like Rice is better than Rodri.

[@JuRsKi017]

Its Rodri 100%. Most underrated player in the world.

[@nomyhbk9999]

LmE saying Rice is the plaher of the season is simply laughableee 😅😅😅

[@yasheebfaridi2888]

Where is Rodri in this list. The guy that hasn't lost single game this season.

[@aaroneudell4388]

"I'm not shitting on Martin Odegaard!" 😂

[@jovialstar013]

It's a crime that Saliba is not on that list. As an Arsenal fan, Saliba is clearly ahead of Rice and Ødegaard for me

[@In_my_own_mind]

Ahead of Odegaard? Odegaard dictate every attack and is the creative mind behind the goals. His stats is wrong cause how many times has he played someone through and opened the defence…and then they have passed it to another one or they havent been able to score. He should have had at least 3 times the assist he has…

[@sabaschiwangu371]

What surprises me is that the best defense and defenders are at Arsenal but none of Saliba or Gabriel are there and we have Van Dirk instead, this is madddd… Rodri, Saka, Gabriel, should have all made that list!

[@user-vs2hr1wq8d]

Arsenal POTY is Saliba for me. When he went off last season everything crumbled. He's back and the stats are there for all to see.

[@batomycolourconcept]

I think Odeegard is far more important to Arsenal than Rice; however, that is not to say Rice hasn't been great. But Odeegard is the bond that binds the team and determines the way the team plays going forward.

[@jessetaylor6976]

Haaland second 😂 he shouldn’t even be in the conversation. It’s actually an insult to Foden and Rodri. Foden, Odegaard and Rice clearly… Gabrielle far and above over Virgil. Best defence in the league by far… Crazy these bananas

[@cacambo589]

If Rice or Odegaard is the question, Foden is the answer.

[@PhilipMgimba]

rice is real a missing piece but oodegard is a player of season

[@OkiriaCharles-rd8nq]

Guys I go with Rice as Mai player of the year coz of his elegant play.bravo Declane.Charles from Uganda

[@obeda91]

No Saka? 15 goals 9 assists . Top goal scorer for arsenal and top in assists as well. Yet he keeps being disrespected

[@sidbob1215]

8 penalties, 8 corner assists.

[@obeda91]

@@sidbob1215 so now u r just talking rubbish. Lol

[@RichardStone-xk2px]

​@@sidbob1215No trophies in his career and missed the most important penalty he'll ever take in his life 😅

[@sidbob1215]

@@obeda91 6 penalties and 8 corner assists then

[@sidbob1215]

@@RichardStone-xk2px and this haha.

[@mohamiuchia]

Odegard

[@Veggievitalityvibes]

Saliba and gabriel was far better than van djik this season😮

[@DRIVER-SEBVET]

"Ben White" is probably in top 5 of best arsenal players this season and he's nowhere near that list.. list becomes a joke especially when you see vvd on there without Saliba and Gabriel, crazy.... I really can't pick a player between Rice and Odegaard so I'd let them share it.....

[@user-ik4ki3zo8c]

Van djik criminal to not have gabriel and saliba and saka

[@Thedailydose45]

De bruyne shout out is insane 😂 he is the best player in the league on abilities but not this season, he missed first half of the season.. doesn't deserve to be in the running

[@BR-tf7jd]

Foden deserves it and his 25 goals is ridiculous.

[@m.d8434]

Rodri over Haarland . Why is haarland there

[@achuthp.k4567]

Rodri. Ødegaard. Rice in that order.

[@davidblush]

Gabriel Magalhaes

[@russellward4624]

Neither. Should be Rodri.

[@tundeuade2223]

My mind wants Foden to win but Haaland will win it

[@Steph_D_1st]

Van who???

[@LeoBov1]

Saka has the same if not better stats literally as Foden, trust me color of your skin and overall name really play a huge role in how the English do things.. It’s criminal that both Saka and Rodri ain’t on the list

[@user-xi6fd4sb7l]

Saliba is arsenal best player

[@MegaHesekiel]

The two players who have been most consistent this season is Gabriel and Rice full stop, stop overlooking defensive players

[@romainesmith2533]

Saka should be on that list. He is Arsenal's most important player.

[@brucecampbell0317]

Odegaard? Ghosted entire first half of season.

[@batomycolourconcept]

Van Dirk hasn't been as good as either Saliba nor Gabriel this season. It's quite funny how on earth Dirk happens to be on that list for this season performance ahead of the Arsenal CB defensive pairing.

[@lukejones2674]

Ben White has actually been the best defender in the league to be honest.. So surprised he didn't get a mention

[@user-tb3vg1dy8d]

Look at all the Arsenal fan girls here…😂😂 Getting excited about finishing the season with ZERO Trophies while actually thinking they have an actual player of the year on their team 😂😂😂😂😂

[@elixir9261]

Man City equally stand the chance of winning the exact amount of trophy you just mocked arsenal for so calm yo titties.

[@nicobailey3264]

Why rice and odegard on it lol it's an individual award not a team award lol😅😅😅😂they don't have any goals or assist like other players lol I would give the season to Ollie

[@thomasgundersen8975]

By your reasoning you would give it to Haaland. 6 goals more the Ollie with 6 matches less played in PL.

[@oma_gooner]

NOT HAVING SALIBA AND GABRIEL AND BEN WHITE IS CRIMINAL FORGET SAKA! SALIBA AND GABRIEL SHOULD BE TOP 3 WITH RICE TAKING THE NO 1 SPOT! ITS NOT EVEN DEBATABLE!!!

[@RichardStone-xk2px]

None of the above have won anything 😅

[@Fearlessphil100]

Lol Emery for MOTS because he got Villa into CL?🙄 By that logic Arteta should have been MOTS last season. Villa's form is not good atm bye bye Emery.....Villa lucky spurs are rubbish atm or they would be in 5th and not in CL🤔

[@MegaHesekiel]

Im disappointed in this pundits Rice has been Arsenal's best player of the odergaard does not even deserve to be in that list, I will replace odergaard with Gabriel marghales, I watched my team every week Saka does not deserve to be there, les not just be biased, Rodri 100% deserve to be there

[@Uza237]

No way, Odegaard is the best player in Arsenal right now. No doubt rice has improved the squad a bunch but we can still manage without him if barely. We lose odegaard we lose our most crucial piece, name me one player who does what odegaard does in that team and does it just as good?

[@munyathedreamer]

You capping right? English bias i guess

[@leonidbreshnevonice6926]

You must be kidding

[@achuthp.k4567]

You must be kidding. If Partey is fit you can at least cover him for Rice. There is no replacement for Ødegaard in Arsenal team. People like you always looks over his all round play. G/A assists is not everything.

[@mr.gegenpress7750]

i just find it so disrespectful that Havertz hasn’t been in the nominees, mans been the most impactful signing of the season, scoring most in 2024 😢