Declan Rice played so good tonight, you know what’s happening now

The talent of Declan Rice is no longer a secret on Irish shores, that's why the mere whisper of those three syllables descends the country into utter chaos.

He's a brilliant, brilliant player already. We're not talking about potential or an investment or capping him for the sake of it, we're talking about one of the finest central midfielders in the Premier League as it stands and it's just clean crazy that he wasn't called into competitive Ireland games until this year. On Thursday night (that's December 27, if you've still lost track of days), the Irish international just put in another effortless masterclass as West Ham came away from the revived Southampton with a 2-1 away win. Rice was running the show like he has done on numerous occasions already this season. He was intercepting ball, nicking it out of men's feet and he was controlling the tempo of the fixture with pure composure and pure class. It was a complete midfield performance again from the 19-year-old who has just 18 months left on his Hammers contract and should expect the club to want to keep hold of him but also offers to come in this summer as other sniff around looking for a bargain. https://twitter.com/SleevesElliott/status/1078388947447881734 But Rice's display has caught the eyes of too many English people, for Ireland's liking. The only fixture on a Christmas night, a lot of football fans tuned in and watched him play a full game for the first time and they were more than impressed - unfortunately. https://twitter.com/SmnLlyd5/status/1078401228416188416 Any Irishman who thinks he shouldn't be back in the green jersey is an idiot. You hear that, Kilbane? https://twitter.com/alanob2112/status/1078386555109163008 And fans of bigger clubs are raising their eyebrows.  From Liverpool to Manchester City. https://twitter.com/BellaghyPaulD/status/1078398809649102848 https://twitter.com/RealTalkMCFC/status/1078390289721643008 The level he's operating at is amazing. https://twitter.com/MichaelWardle/status/1078401745821290497 https://twitter.com/ironworks68/status/1078399191813156864 Ed Chamberlin - football commentator Ed Chamberlin - hadn't watched him until now? Well, now he has. https://twitter.com/chamberlinsport/status/1078386369330925569 And the rest of the English are interested because... well, Eric Dier. https://twitter.com/samuelDpriddle/status/1078396532305682434 https://twitter.com/JamesPsoccer/status/1078402916392816640 https://twitter.com/DavidJPipe/status/1078399726335262721 If only he could just keep a lid on it until he possibly makes a return to Ireland, which Mick McCarthy was talking about this week. https://twitter.com/Thebaker0805/status/1078401181943283715 West Ham have moved up to ninth now, joint with eight-placed Everton and a point off Leicester.