West Ham United: ‘Tremendous’ Declan Rice wows Chris Sutton at World Cup
West Ham United captain Declan Rice was among England’s top performers at the World Cup and Chris Sutton is among his admirers.
The 23-year-old is on his way back to the London Stadium after the Three Lions were dumped out of the tournament by holders France in the quarter-final on Saturday (10 December).
Rice played every single game in Qatar as the holding midfielder and helped England to keep three clean sheets in five matches – against the USA, Wales and Senegal.
“Tremendous anticipation for knowing when to break up play. Rice has that sixth sense,” Sutton said in his Daily Mail column. “He was a must-start in England’s midfield alongside Jude Bellingham and enjoyed a decent tournament.”
The Irons captain now has 14 days before he will be required to take to the field in claret and blue when Premier League leaders Arsenal visit the London Stadium on Boxing Day (26 December).
Genius
There is a definite possibility that England would not have even made it out of the group stage without Rice screening the back four and stuffing out any danger coming towards him.
Kalvin Phillips would have been asked to do that role had Rice been unavailable for whatever reason but he would not have the ability to cover as much ground having barely played for Manchester City this season.
Southgate will put Rice’s name on his teamsheet before anybody else’s because his role in the team is one that no one else can manage and it’s the same deal at West Ham too.
David Moyes can’t live without the England international in his side and things could be a whole lot worse had he been sold in the summer for a whopping transfer fee.
He may still end up leaving in the near future if the Hammers fail to qualify for European football so there have to be some contingency plans for when that happens.