Declan Rice produced one of the poorest performances he has ever put in when wearing a West Ham shirt against Newcastle on Saturday.
The 23-year-old has been truly exceptional for the Hammers over the past two or three seasons.
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Rice has been the best and most consistent player at the London Stadium since David Moyes Moyes took over for a second time back in December 2019.
He has reached an entirely new level this season as well.
Dec has transformed into a box-to-box thoroughbred and continually drives West Ham on week in, week out.
Rice puts in a minimum of 8/10 performances every single time he takes to the pitch for the Hammers…aside from perhaps one or two games per season.
Saturday’s clash with Newcastle was one of those games…
Declan Rice did something very rare against Newcastle
The West Ham star was at fault for the Magpies’ equaliser at the London Stadium.
Rice attempted to cut out a cross but headed the ball backwards right into the path of Joe Willock who slotted home.
It really was a huge error from the 23-year-old West Ham midfielder but he’s allowed the old mistake. In fact, that was the first time he has made an error that directly cost the Hammers a goal in the Premier League since April 2018 away at Arsenal according to Who Scored:
Against Arsenal four years, ago, the scores were tied at 1-1 as the game drifted into the final 10 minutes at the Emirates.
The then 19-year-old was perfectly positioned to head clear an Aaron Ramsey cross inside the six-yard box.
Instead, Rice ducked out of the way of the ball, allowing it to drift past the wrong-footed Joe Hart and into the goal.
And after the game, David Moyes could not defend the error from Declan Rice which he felt cost West Ham a point, as quoted by Sky Sports:
“The young centre-half should head the ball away and it wouldn’t have even got to 2-1, it was that easy. Why he would duck in the box I’ve got no idea. “Even if Joe Hart did shout, any centre-half – and I was one of them – can never let the ball go. The ball is in the middle of your goal and you are probably only six yards from your goal. You can never let the ball go. You deal with it and you argue about it afterwards. The rules for any centre-half have always been ‘I’m going to head it clear first and talk to you after’.”
The public dressing down of Rice was unusual from Moyes. Usually he takes most of the blame on board himself. Having said that, his decision to publicly criticise Declan Rice has proven to be the right call.
Dec obviously learned from his error that day and has gone on to become a world-class player. He is clearly the type of character who responds well to criticism.
The fact that the error leading to a goal for the opposition on Saturday was the first one that he has made in nearly four years says all you need to know about his consistency.
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