Rio Ferdinand lauds West Ham trio at EUROs
Rio Ferdinand has poured in with praises for West Ham midfielder Declan Rice and the Czech Republic duo Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek for their impressive performances at the EUROs.
Rice put in a solid shift as England’s deepest lying midfield player in the Three Lions’ 1-0 victory over Croatia.
The following day, Coufal and Soucek put in a spirited display against Scotland to register a smash-and-grab 2-0 victory. Coufal also set up Patrick Schick’s opener in the first half.
A day before he tweeted this in praise of Soucek and Coufal, he discussed the importance of Rice to Gareth Southgate’s England side.
He told BBC Sport, ” I was very impressed with the patience of this team from back to front.
“I thought Declan Rice in front of the back four was superb in his positions, cutting out crosses, getting in great positions to cut the lines into the strikers.”
Exceptional tournament for the Hammers
One player he forgot to mention is Andriy Yarmolenko who also started the EUROs in fine form – scoring a belter against the Netherlands.
That said, he’s hit the nail on the head about Rice, Soucek and Coufal.
Rice was deployed, as expected as the deepest of England’s midfielders. His presence there saw Kalvin Phillips venture forward and wreak havoc in the middle and final third.
The Leeds man assisted the winner and was duly praised for it, but Rice’s shielding the defence helped him venture forward.
Coufal, for the Czech Republic, picked up from where he left off with West Ham, once again terrifying opposition defenders with his consistent overlapping runs from right-back.
Against Scotland, he provided an assist and two key passes going forward. He also helped out defensively as he made three clearances and proved to be a lethal aerial threat – winning all of his attempted duels. [Sofascore]
Soucek, on the other hand, had a bigger impact defensively, making eight clearances and winning six duels – five of which were on the ground.
Still early days in the tournament, but we’re happy with the way our Hammers contingent has begun and we’re expecting more good performances in the coming days.
In other West Ham news, ‘Pure quality’ – Pundit stunned by ‘Wonderful’ Hammers ace after EUROs masterclass
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