Former West Ham player Matthew Etherington was blown away by Declan Rice’s performance against Manchester City on Saturday.
Despite the Hammers being subjected to a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of the current Premier League champions, BBC pundit Etherington was still mightily impressed by the Irons mainstay – and even said he will be West Ham’s “rock” to build upon in the next six years.
He praised the 19-year-old for his work rate all over the pitch in this heavy defeat, adding how “impressed” he was by Rice’s display.
“Declan Rice, I’ve been really impressed with him today, he’s worked hard all over the pitch and I think he’ll be West Ham’s rock to build on for the next six years,” he said on BBC Sport [24/11, 4.43pm].
OPINION
Even though West Ham were subjected to a thumping, there is no pundit who will criticise the performance of the incredible Declan Rice. Even after such a dismal result, Etherington has still found a positive to take away from this game, and that is something that the fans should find extremely encouraging. The supporters will no doubt be feeling a bit down after this match, but in no way was the result the fault of the youngster. Even though he was probably one of the youngest players on the pitch, he played far better than any of his teammates, and Manuel Pellegrini no doubt recognised this as well. Rice is not showing any signs of slowing down any time soon and only exciting times lay ahead for the red-hot midfielder. Etherington is spot on to heap praise on Rice in the way that he has – he was one of the only bright lights in this heavy loss.