‘In the argument’ – Rio Ferdinand says Declan Rice among best in the league
Rio Ferdinand believes West Ham star Declan Rice is among the best midfielders in the league and thinks he ‘doesn’t like’ being labelled as as defensive midfielder.
Rice has blossomed into one of the best performing midfielders in the Premier League over recent seasons, becoming a key member of the Hammers and England side in the middle of the park.
But while he’s often mentioned as a defensive midfielder, Ferdinand told BT Sport he believes he ‘doesn’t like’ that label and wants to be more like Man City legend Yaya Toure in his style.
“Sitting midfielder, holding, one dimensional, but everything but that now,” he said.
“What you’d associate with a holding midfielder is play it there [backwards], sit and stay. He doesn’t want to just be sitting on the edge of the box, cleaning things up and giving it to people to play.
“If I tell you this ‘defensive midfielder’ that everyone keeps talking about is going to drive the ball up the pitch to the opposing penalty area you’d say no chance.
“But he wants to be box-to-box, a Yaya Toure type player. I don’t think he likes it [being called a defensive midfielder]. He wants to affect the game.
Asked if Rice was the best midfielder in the league, Ferdinand said, “On form, he’s in the argument. He’s in the shake up, 100 percent.”
Waiting list
There is a huge queue forming of clubs that want to take Rice away from the London Stadium, and there is good reason for that.
He is absolutely one of the best midfielders in the country right now and if anyone knows about what it takes to make the move to the top level it’s Ferdinand.
Comparisons to Steven Gerrard and now Toure are a huge compliment to the 23-year-old, who is constantly improving and evolving his game to get even better.
His development to become more box-to-box has seen an improvement in his end product at the other end of the pitch, with this defensive contributions still as influential as ever.
Rice ultimately wants to become the best player he can be and if that means moving him slightly further up the pitch to do so then it’s something everyone will benefit from. The Hammers, Rice and any potential suitors will know that too.
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