‘He could play for ANY club’: West Ham manager David Moyes raves about England’s Declan Rice
‘He could play for ANY club’: West Ham manager David Moyes raves about England’s Declan Rice following 1-0 loss at Anfield as Gareth Southgate watches the Hammers skipper shine against Liverpool
- West Ham manager David Moyes has issued a glowing review of star Declan Rice
- The Hammers head coach insisted his captain is good enough for ‘any’ club
- Rice was linked with a move away from West Ham in the summer transfer market
- And has again impressed in the Premier League for the London side this season
- England’s Gareth Southgate watched Rice’s stunning performance at Liverpool
David Moyes insisted Declan Rice has recaptured the form that has made him an England lynchpin but left Anfield cursing the point that got away.
Rice has had a difficult start to the season and recently complained that, ahead of the World Cup, he had played an “obscene amount of games” over a 12-month period; 68, to be precise, from June 2021 to June 2022, plus another 15 for club and country in this campaign.
Whatever questions there have been of the 23-year-old, however, Moyes insisted they had been dispelled in front of England head coach Gareth Southgate, who ran the rule over a clutch of players aiming to be in his squad for Qatar.
West Ham manager David Moyes believes skipper Declan Rice is good enough for ‘any club’
Rice has played 83 games for club and country since June 2021 ahead of the World Cup
Hammers head honcho Moyes raved about Rice’s overall performance against Liverpool
Liverpool trio Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson all played well; the last named enjoyed his best performance of the campaign and Moyes, who saw another World Cup hopeful Jarrod Bowen have a penalty saved, stressed that sentiment also applied to Rice.
‘If you didn’t see it, he was the best player on the pitch – by a mile,’ said Moyes. ‘A Top player. He could play for any club, he’s that good – and I mean it. He was back to his best; for long periods he was fantastic, big parts of the play in how he dominated.
The midfielder will play a key role for England at the November World Cup
‘He took the ball and he drove past people. It’s (a significant step on where he has been). That’s him getting back to his levels. For those who don’t see us that often, last season he played that way in every game just about. He was so good. I thought he was a standout, certainly as the game went on.’
West Ham were similarly progressive during the game and it followed a similar narrative to recent fixtures between the sides here, with Liverpool needing to quarry out three points with defensive resilience, not to mention the efforts of their goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
‘I’m disappointed that we didn’t come away with something when we had the opportunity to do so,’ said Moyes. ‘The last few times I have been here, I have been saying the same things but we just haven’t had the chance to change it.
‘We didn’t start off particularly well but we improved. We gave the ball away numerous times in the opening 20 minutes and against Liverpool that is not a good thing to do.
We stuck at it and eventually clawed our way back into the game. If we keep playing like that, we’ll get a lot of points.’
Something caught your eye Gareth? England boss Southgate was at Anfield on Wednesday
Rice (centre) has scored one goal and made two assists for West Ham so far this season
The 23-year-old West Ham star (right) picked up the man-of-the-match award in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss away to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool
If Moyes was rueful, Jurgen Klopp was relieved. The big physical effort to beat Manchester City had not been fully shaken off and only an outstanding save from Alisson prevented Tomas Soucek turning in an equaliser.
‘So we brought it over the line,’ said Klopp, who substituted goalscorer Darwin Nunez as a precaution. ‘We needed Ali and we needed Milly’s big toe.
Rice (arm raised) admitted that he felt ‘sick’ to not come away with a point against Liverpool
‘Absolutely it was really important we brought it over the line in a tight game, it’s just that it didn’t happen too often this season.
‘It is not that we are used it – we either win really high or not! But it’s the second 1-0 in a row, and that is absolutely fine, and we kept it going until the end.’
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