A Daily Mail football “expert” has delivered the worst Declan Rice take West Ham fans will ever see after the defeat to Liverpool.
West Ham talisman Rice has established himself as one of the finest midfielders in all of Europe with his performances for club and country.
And he was in top form for the Hammers at Anfield, showing off his full array of talents.
Rice was so good he was named man of the match despite – somehow – being on the losing side against Liverpool.
The West Ham captain ended the game with a 95% pass accuracy, had 93 touches, completed more final third passes than anyone on the pitch (19), made more ball recoveries than anyone else (11), completed eight of nine long passes, created two chances and one key chance.
His performance was hailed by the likes of Steve McManaman and Ally McCoist who were covering the game for Amazon.
Even Liverpool fans on social media were raving about Rice during and after the game.
Daily Mail man delivers worst Declan Rice take West Ham fans will ever see after Liverpool defeat
But football expert Dominic King did not see things that way.
The Daily Mail man delivered the worst Declan Rice take West Ham fans will ever see after the Liverpool defeat.
In his article after the match, King – The Mail’s northern football correspondent – criticised the West Ham star’s performance in a piece headlined ‘Dominic King: Rice huffs and puffs but struggles to make an impact’.
After a backlash from fans – and presumably his editors – the angle was hastily re-worded to say the exact opposite of the original and that Rice showed how crucial he will be for England in Qatar.
The original article offered a ridiculous assessment of the West Ham star and was understandably changed, although the description of the 23-year-old’s form as ‘scratchy’ remains.
There are also still lines of criticism which do not compute with what anyone watching the game would have seen from Rice.
“At times, he looked like a player with many yards in his legs: Southgate will be hoping this return to form brings with it renewed freshness,” King said of Rice.
Football – unfortunately at times when you read articles such as this – is a game of opinions. And King is of course entitled to his.
But it says everything that is ludicrous original take was later heavily revised.
Rice was head and shoulders the best player on the pitch and had he been playing for Liverpool West Ham would have been dead an buried.
Instead, with Rice leading the charge, David Moyes’ side were desperately unlucky not to come away with at least a point.
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