Hammers captain Declan Rice can’t contain his excitement when he looks around the West Ham dressing room and has made a bold statement.
When David Moyes vowed to build an exciting new look West Ham team around talisman Rice he was not messing around.
And now the skipper is starting to see things coming together in a big way at West Ham.
The Hammers made it a nine-point week at home and abroad with the 3-1 win over Fulham and recorded their first back-to-back league victories for 10 long months.
But it is the green shoots that have emerged in the last seven days, after a dismal start following Moyes’ big summer overhaul, that has not just West Ham fans but the club’s captain dreaming.
Rice looked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders in the early exchanges of the season.
But speaking ahead of the wins over Anderlecht and Fulham – where West Ham’s new holy trinity of Rice, Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca combined to devastating effect for match-defining goals – the captain looked back to his bubbly old self.
Indeed now Rice can’t contain his excitement when he looks around the West Ham dressing room and the midfielder has made a bold statement.
Declan Rice can’t contain his excitement when he looks around the West Ham dressing room and makes bold statement
“It’s what we needed you know (more quality players),” Rice said (whufc.com).
“I think it’s healthy, it’s really good because you never want to get too comfortable in a position (as a player or a club).
“You always want to be pushed by top players and that makes you push on as well…
“It’s the step that the club needed to take. Us as players you look around the changing room and see the quality we’ve got and it’s exciting. So it’s really good to have top players and to know that you’re not always safe on the teamsheet because we’ve got so many good players now.”
Those good players combined right on cue to prove Rice right in the last two games.
And he doubled down on those comments after the win over Fulham with a hugely encouraging message for West Ham fans that will be ominous for the club’s rivals.
“West Ham fans, Dec here,” Rice said in a video message on the club’s Twitter.
“Massive win today, great performance from the boys.
“We’re building something here.
“Let’s keep going, keep supporting us and there’s a big one next weekend now. Thank you and see you soon.”
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