Chris Sutton names West Ham star Declan Rice in TOTS, Robbie Savage stunned
Robbie Savage was in disbelief that Chris Sutton selected West Ham star Declan Rice in his Premier League Team of the Season.
The pundits were speaking on BBC Radio 5 live’s 606 programme [18:00, 22/05/21] when Savage asked Sutton to name the 11 players worthy of recognition during the 2020/21 campaign.
Savage took exception to the presence of an Irons player in the ranks.
“Declan Rice, you need a holding midfield in there,” Sutton explained.
Savage replied incredulously, “Declan Rice, Team of the Season? Wow. Better than [Youri] Tielemans or [Wilfred] Ndidi? Better than Fernandinho?”
He later added, “How have you got Declan Rice? West Ham are sixth and could finish lower than that but he’s in the Team of the Season?
“When was the last time he played?”
Foxes bias
Savage made more appearances for Leicester in his career than at any other club so we know where his allegiances lie here.
It’s one thing to make a case for the players of your own club but it’s another to completely disregard others and do zero research.
Perhaps if he paid more attention to the Irons he’d realise Rice has been back for our last two games, and that the six he missed prior to those are the only ones he has been absent from all season in the Premier League.
A total of 31 appearances is six more than Foxes midfielder Ndidi has made this season, and 11 more than Manchester City veteran Fernandinho, so Savage’s point about Rice not playing enough games is utterly redundant.
Furthermore, Savage named his own Team of the Season in his Mirror column and named Harry Kane as his striker despite his Spurs side looking likely to finish below the Irons.
So his swipe at our league position is completely baseless when he votes for someone that is even lower in the league.
It’s just more lazy and biased pundtiry.
In other West Ham news, reliable journalist claims Irons want to sign £17m-rated striker compared to Sadio Mane.
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