Whatever country he chooses, you can imagine Declan Rice having a handy international career.
In the coming weeks, Declan Rice will confirm his intentions to play competitive internationals for England or Ireland.
In the meantime, West Ham fans will continue to rejoice that their club picked him up when Chelsea, his former side, had their doubts.
The Londoner continues to assert himself as a Premier League star and, along with Mark Noble, he was instrumental in the Hammers’ 3-1 victory over a ragged Manchester United.
Rice made 62 passes at a 90% completion rate and was a constant out-ball for teammates if they were in a spot of bother. He also threw himself about when required and both Marcus Rashford and Juan Mata will be smarting, this evening, after some tough but fair challenges.
Following the game, former United players Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand tore into Jose Mourinho’s side for their lack of drive and effort, but were fulsome in their praise of West Ham. Scholes nailed it with his take on Rice’s role in the win.
“I thought Noble and Rice were fantastic… Declan Rice, I thought he was excellent. He totally controlled the game.”
"That's as bad as you'll see from a Man Utd team for some time!" 😠
"Today I didn't see hard work or effort!" 😡@rioferdy5 and Paul Scholes are LIVID with Man Utd's performance today… pic.twitter.com/JgfZDz5muA
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 29, 2018
Scholes and Ferdinand were not the only ones raving about Rice during and after the game.
Social media was abuzz with comments on how Rice, who spent much of last season as a centre-back, completely outshone United’s £90m Paul Pogba in midfield.
Declan rice just emptied his pockets @_DeclanRice pic.twitter.com/6NJ6VikOWo
— Tommy O (@TomOConnoisseur) September 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/X_SSmith096/status/1046041434154049536
Paul Pogba… poor man’s Declan Rice
— whiskyshrine (@Whiskyshrine) September 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/andrewjeffrey7/status/1046016818513620997
Ultra pathetic tactics, no energy, no passion, no drive, no pressing, fucking Declan rice and mark noble running the game. Staggering. #mufc
— Chandan Sharma (@wickedchandy) September 29, 2018
Meanwhile, over on BT Sports’ live scores show, former Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood claimed West Ham were doing well as they were giving responsibility to ‘British lads’ like Rice and Noble in the engine room.
https://twitter.com/Junktivitus/status/1046044593278652416
Nothing like a bit of jingoism after sending Manchester United to their worst league start in 29 years.
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