West Ham felt they might have qualified for Champions League if Rice stayed fit
West Ham will be playing in the Europa League next season but came very close to qualifying for the Champions League after an impressive campaign.
The Hammers finished sixth in the Premier League table last season, two points off fourth-place Chelsea.
According to The Telegraph, there are those within the club who believe had Declan Rice been present for the six crucial games in the run-in, they might have qualified for Europe’s elite competition.
The feeling at West Ham is that the injury-enforced absence of the England international was a double blow, as they lost his defensive prowess in the middle of the park and the attacking prowess of Tomas Soucek [The Telegraph].
Nothing but the truth
Rice played just three of the last nine Premier League games of the campaign, and West Ham won just three out of those six games, losing the other three.
With the 22-year-old around, we would have surely picked up some points against Newcastle United, Chelsea and Everton, and his absence was no doubt a big blow.
Mark Noble came in as his replacement but was not able to influence the games as he used to in his glory days.
We clearly need one more solid player in such a crucial position this summer and manager David Moyes can be trusted to get the right man for the job.
At the time of Rice’s knee injury – which he sustained while on duty during March’s international break – we were only two points off fourth place.
The gap extended to six points by the time he returned, and it was too little, too late.
Soucek was also limited in his attacking threat in the Englishman’s absence, failing to find the net in six games and not scoring until Rice’s second game back.
West Ham clearly will not be entertaining offers for their most influential player anytime soon, and we can only hope we go one better next season.
In other West Ham news, David Moyes wants behind-the-scenes recruitment change at London Stadium.
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