Garth Crooks has delivered his verdict on Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, and West Ham United fans with be laughing their socks off.
Declan Rice has been very good indeed for Arsenal this season after moving to the Emirates from West Ham, and Garth Crooks included the 24-year-old in his team of the week after the latest round of fixtures, on BBC Sport.
Hammers boss David Moyes was powerless to stop Dec from joining the Gunners in the end, after the north London outfit made a monstrous £105 million bid (Sky).
Unsurprisingly, Rice hit the ground running as soon as he moved to the Emirates, and he could well make the difference for them in the race for the Premier League title this season.
Arsenal look like a very strong outfit indeed, and it could be argued that the 24-year-old has been their best player this season.
However, talk that he has made vast improvements since joining the Gunners is disingenuous in the extreme…
Garth Crook delivers Declan Rice verdict
The England international midfielder put in yet another powerhouse display for Arsenal against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.
It was the type of performance we saw week in, week out when he was with West Ham, but Garth Crooks shared his belief that Dec has become a more authoritative figure since joining the Gunners:
“Rice provides the perfect insurance policy for William Saliba and Gabriel at the heart of Arsenal’s defensive unit. Rice was impressive when he played for West Ham but he has added a real authority to his game. It could prove to be the difference between Arsenal winning the title because of his reliability and them losing it with unpredictability and occasionally volatile Granit Xhaka. I know who I prefer.”
Sorry, what? ‘He’s added authority to his game’? Seriously Garth?
Any West Ham fan reading this will know that Rice’s exceptional performances for Arsenal are nothing new.
We have watched him perform to extraordinarily high levels on an incredibly consistent basis for at least the past three years.
The Garth Crooks verdict on Declan Rice was painfully misguided, and well wide of the truth. The West Ham fans will have a good old chuckle reading what the BBC pundit said about our former player, that’s for sure.
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