Declan Rice
England · Midfielder · England · 558 min
Ballity Verdict
What makes this player special?
Declan Rice is the kind of midfielder coaches build possession around. At England, his real value is not goals or highlight assists — it is how cleanly he moves the team from safe zones into dangerous ones, almost never giving the ball away cheaply. Ballity's clearest read is deep-lying playmaker: he controls games more than he decides them.
Beyond the headline job, Rice remains plausible as ball winner and carrier. The secondary roles matter for how a coach can reorganise without changing the XI entirely.
On the pitch he has actually been used as CM (#8) / DM (#6). That matters: skill-set breadth is one thing; demonstrated deployment is another. Rice's authenticity claim starts from those minutes, not from a role board alone.
Sample size still limits how hard you can push the conclusions. The football idea is clear; the confidence should stay honest until a fuller season of minutes confirms it.
Why Ballity says this
- Midfield / role totality: deep-lying playmaker, ball winner, carrier
- Shown minutes: CM (#8) / DM (#6)
- No major weakness flags in the current profile
Receipts
- · Player Profile
- · Role Breadth
- · Deployment authenticity
- · Sample · limited
Position
Midfielder
Appearances
7
Great+ roles
1
Age
27
Preferred foot
Right
Height
188 cm
Ballity insights
Peer context vs midfielders — how often they get the ball and what they do with it. Separate from role tiers above.
Usage rate
Share of team touches (non-GK) among midfielders with match data.
10.6% team touches
Peer band · Low
Pool percentile
42.4%
Also 61.2 touches/90 (season aggregate).
Efficiency
Output quality per action for midfielders.
66 score
Peer band · Low
Pool percentile
35.4%
Balance & structural weaknesses
How complete this player is on the position's job board — strengths and holes.
How we define this
Two-way = Great+ on ≥2 complementary axes. One-way = every other route Limited/closed. Weak routes = Average holes on complementary axes.
Strong as Chance Creation (Great), Ball Progressor (Great)
Stat profile
Within Midfielder peers — percentile shape (not role scores).
Versatility Index
Precise 0–100 score — cross-group breadth (67%) plus within-group depth (33%), quality-scaled by tier. Distinct from the shape card below.
Index
46.1
Breadth 23.5 · Depth 22.7
- ·Fullbacks: Overlapping FB (Elite), Playmaking FB (Great), Defensive FB (Good)
- ·Midfielders: Deep-Lying Playmaker (Great), Box-to-Box Midfielder (Great), Creator (Great), Ball Winner (Good), Carrier (Good)
Versatility shape
Coarse directional pattern (Specialist / Dual-threat / Generalist) — not the 0–100 Index above.
Specialist
Great SpecialistDistinct Great+
1 Great+ roles total
Where he plays
Positions with deployment evidence — not statistical guesses.
Natural
Role translations
Where the profile could fit. Tap a position — then see which role style suits it.
Select a position on the pitch to see the best role, alternatives, and evidence.
Role-by-role detail
How each role is scored. Expand a row for a radar of role-shaped stats.
Similar players
Shape match across midfielder roles — cosine similarity of role scores (domestic leagues only). Slot 1 is the best same-league match; the rest are the next closest from the full pool.
Luka Modrić
Milan · Serie A
Closest roles
Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ4
CarrierΔ2
Ball WinnerΔ9
Vitinha
Paris Saint-Germain · Ligue 1
Closest roles
- Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ4
- CarrierΔ3
- Ball WinnerΔ9
Joshua Kimmich
FC Bayern München · Bundesliga 24/25
Closest roles
- Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ2
- Ball WinnerΔ4
CreatorΔ12