Gabby Agbonlahor accuses ‘very bitter person’ Roy Keane of agenda against West Ham United captain Declan Rice
Gabby Agbonlahor has accused Roy Keane of having “something against” West Ham captain Declan Rice because he is a “very bitter person”.
The former Manchester United captain spoke ahead of the FA Cup tie at Old Trafford on 1 March about how he wasn’t impressed by the Irons star, having played in the same position, and claimed “a lot of good PR” had come from the London Stadium over his transfer fee [ITV on Twitter].
In response to the Irishman’s accusation that Rice doesn’t score or assist enough Agbonlahor blamed the tactics under David Moyes and blasted Keane’s outlook.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Saturday (4 March), in a clip posted on the station’s Twitter, he said: “I’ve watched him for England when maybe he’s got a freer role to go a bit more forward.
“When you watch him at West Ham he’s got to sit there. You’ve got [Tomas] Soucek who wants to get in the box and on the end of crosses. He hasn’t got the licence to roam forward.
“When he’s at it, Declan Rice, he can run with the ball, he’s got that long stride. He can score goals, great striker of the ball.
“I think sometimes some of these pundits like Roy Keane, who is a bitter guy, we had him at Aston Villa, very bitter person, has got something maybe against him.”
Strong
It’s unlikely that Keane has a real agenda against the West Ham skipper, even allowing for Rice’s switch from Ireland to England because the former Irish captain’s own relationship with his national set up wasn’t exactly super.
What he hates is hype, with ‘bluffer’ one of his favoured insults, and when any player is wanted by a lot of big teams it lends itself to that.
The frustration for West Ham fans is that Soucek hasn’t been up to his old standards for a long time, so if Rice is being restricted in their side by his presence it is a huge waste.
Moyes maybe should have put Flynn Downes next to his captain months ago and let the star man go box-to-box, but tactically very little has worked this season.
If Rice does leave in the summer and suddenly becomes an all-action player elsewhere, who scores and assists all the time, it will make the Irons boss’ time in charge of West Ham look that much less impressive.
But it is also true that the player himself, for all his undoubted quality, has underperformed as well.
Particularly in light of all positivity being blasted away by the 4-0 loss at Brighton on Saturday it is starting to look like this season was a major missed opportunity in more ways than one, with a waste of Rice’s possible last year at the club certainly included in that.