Declan Rice’s horribly misjudged come and get me plea to a world audience is bang out of order on West Ham and leaves a bitter taste.
For those who may have missed it, Hammers captain Rice effectively told the world he fully intends to leave West Ham in the summer during an England press conference on Thursday.
Before I get into this, let’s start off with a bit of housekeeping. Rice’s desire to leave will not come as a surprise to any West Ham fans.
Rice has thus far refused to sign a new contract after being offered in excess of £200k per week – and £83m over the course of the proposed deal.
The West Ham talisman has already made it abundantly clear in several interviews that it is not about money, but rather competing for the top trophies year in, year out and playing in the Champions League.
Club insiders have claimed for some time that West Ham have privately agreed to sell Rice next summer.
We all know the score. So were yesterday’s comments really necessary?
For perhaps the first time during his Hammers career, Rice has managed to seriously anger a large section of the fanbase who adore him. And it is easy to see why.
It has nothing to do with the prospect of him leaving, the vast majority of us have long accepted that is an inevitability.
But Rice’s horribly misjudged come and get me plea to a world audience is bang out of order on West Ham and leaves a bitter taste.
None of us want our footballers to be monotone robots blurting out the same cliche lines and batting away questions with stock answers.
We don’t want a football world full of personalities – or lack of them – like Harry Kane and Michael Olise.
Declan Rice’s horribly misjudged come and get me plea to world audience is bang out of order on West Ham and leaves a bitter taste
We want players to be interesting, honest, to show character and answer questions properly.
But what Rice did in that press conference – regardless of the clear understanding everyone has over his West Ham future – was wrong.
And we shouldn’t be kidded on that we’re little old West Ham and should just accept it.
We all knew Rice was going to be off in the summer but to say what he has said does not sit right with many West Ham fans.
It is highly unprofessional, reflects badly on Rice and is detrimental to the rest of the West Ham squad – who have a fight on their hands to save our season when domestic action resumes in a few weeks.
Rice has been absolutely fantastic for West Ham on and off the pitch.
He has already stayed longer and played more games than a host of other so-called legends and heroes who have come through West Ham’s famous academy.
But he is West Ham’s captain. How can he lead a team of men having effectively publicly declared on the biggest stage that he wants to leave the club?
If Mark Noble was as talented as Rice in the same situation do you think he would have answered those questions in such a way? Definitely not.
It all felt a bit premeditated too. It’s not as if Rice has been one of the players of the tournament and is being talked about in glowing terms by a world press desperate to know what is next for a global superstar. So why were his ambitions at club level and his future even being mentioned in a press conference ahead of a World Cup knockout match? It’s bizarre.
Rice could and should have batted that question away, said he’s ambitious and moved the conversation back to England and what he hopes to achieve with them.
Instead he has managed to rattle the nerves of an already irritable and miserable fanbase still reeling at what they have witnessed so far this season.
Some have called for Rice to be stripped of the West Ham captaincy, an extreme measure which would do more harm than good.
David Moyes won’t do that. But the Scot won’t be happy with the way this has come across – not that he really has any power to do anything about it.
This is bigger than Moyes now as it becomes about how West Ham’s owners can ensure they get the highest amount possible for Rice in the summer.
Perhaps Rice should have been sold last summer with his value at a premium? At the time it was unthinkable given Noble was retiring.
But if this is the kind of leadership being shown by Rice then perhaps a clean slate, with all the new arrivals, would have been the best way forward?
We will never know.
The saddest thing is that West Ham could and should have had Champions League football one way or another in the last couple of years.
But competing for it – and trophies – on a regular basis is an entirely different thing. There are only a small number of three of four clubs capable of doing that now and perhaps we are seeing Newcastle threaten that group too.
Whether Chelsea – Rice’s alleged destination of choice despite leaving him on the football scrapheap as a 14-year-old – are a club who can offer that in the coming years now they don’t have the bottomless pit Roman Abramovich bankrolling them is another matter entirely.
Nobody wanted to see Rice tarnish his West Ham legacy. But there is no denying he has put a small dent in it with his words this week.
There are ways and means, there’s a time and a place.
An England press conference during a World Cup was certainly not it.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
