West Ham United duo Declan Rice and Ben Johnson named among best in their position by CIES
West Ham duo Declan Rice and Ben Johnson have been named among the best players in Europe in their position in a new study by CIES.
The study was carried out across 15 different technical profiles, with specific statistics to determine who the best performing players are in those roles and positions.
Declan Rice (filter man playmaker)and defender Ben Johnson (defensive infiltrator) were among the top ten players in their respective roles, showing their importance to the West Ham side under David Moyes.
Johnson’s role and score has him behind just Alphonso Davies, Diogo Dalot, Pervis Estupinan and David Raum in air defence, ground defence, recovery and take ons.
As for Rice, he is behind just PSG midfielder Vitinha and Juventus ace Manuel Locatelli with his score based on recovery and distribution.
For players under 25, it shows just how good West Ham are when it comes to developing talent and making them part of the first-team squad which will certainly help David Moyes.
Talent factory
West Ham has always been a great place for players to find themselves, grow and develop into top Premier League players and that’s the same for Rice and Johnson.
Both players came through the academy and have now firmly established themselves as first-team players in the squad, with Rice seen as one of the best players in his position in the league and Johnson pushing to cement himself as first-choice.
Rice has been subject to plenty of heavy transfer interest over the last couple of years and it will be no surprise that he is on the list to many, but Johnson may be a shock.
Able to play as a full-back on both sides and even filling in as a centre back on occasion, his ability when defending in one on one situations is excellent and is someone the team can rely on.
It’s a credit to the club and the academy staff that they can develop players this good and skilled in their roles, and West Ham know they’re lucky to have them.