West Ham star Declan Rice misses England training, he needs a break
West Ham United have arguably been over-reliant on their star midfielder Declan Rice to perform to his absolute peak every week this season.
To credit the 23-year-old, he has been one of the best players in the entire Premier League this season which has gone a long way to keeping the Irons in the race for the European places despite competing on the continent already.
But maybe his massive workload this season is starting to catch up with him as the Evening Standard reported today that the Hammers vice-captain missed England training.
Today was the first time Gareth Southgate’s squad had got together since before Christmas but Rice was among four players who were absent from the session despite being at St George’s Park.
The exact reason for his absence from training wasn’t specified but it wouldn’t be surprising to hear it was wear and tear that eventually had caught up with him.
Rice has played 28 of the Hammers’ 30 Premier League games this season and hasn’t enjoyed a proper rest in the cup competitions either.
He even had to come on and save the game away at Kidderminster in the FA Cup when the Irons looked destined to be embarrassed by the sixth tier side.
What he really needs is a good week away from football altogether, not just playing games because he is slowly being worn down to a shadow of his real self when it matters.
He might be a key part of David Moyes’ side but if the Scot isn’t careful, he won’t have a choice but to leave him out because he’ll be injured.
It goes against all of your instincts to leave your best player out but if Moyes wants him for a long period, he has to give him the chance to recover.
In other West Ham news, ExWHUEmployee believes the club have scouted this £20million English ace ahead of a summer move.
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