Ex England international turned pundit Danny Murphy has delivered the worst Declan Rice take you will ever hear.
The 23-year-old is currently out in Qatar at the World Cup on international duty with the England national team.
Rice has put in a succession of very solid performances on the pitch for the Three Lions.
As long as he produces the goods on the pitch over the next couple of weeks for England, and for the remaining five or six months of the Premier League season for West Ham, then that’s all we can ask of him.
It must be hard for him playing such different roles for club and country. Danny Murphy clearly doesn’t think that’s the case though…
Danny Murphy shares awful take on England international Declan Rice
The ex-Liverpool and Fulham midfielder was speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s Vibe with Five YouTube channel, and responded when asked what he thinks of Rice as a player:
I think he could be a really devastating box-to-box player and get goals. I think he could get double figures in goals. Imagine him in a City side with Rodri behind him sitting, then him and De Bruyne for example. West Ham, they’re not a possession-based team. He has to sit in because Soucek bombs on and goes forward. He’s restricted. On the odd occasion when West Ham are desperate and you see him bursting forward and trying to make things happen in the last ten to twenty minutes of games. It’s an unbelievable sight the way he goes past people. He’s got them little give and goes in and around the box. He’ll get double figure goals. I don’t think someone should be buying him as a holding midfielder. Speaking to him, I don’t think he wants to play there.
Now, Murphy clearly hasn’t been watching West Ham much over the past 18 months has he?
At the start of last season, Moyes allowed Rice the freedom to play more of a box-to-box role, whilst putting the shackles on Tomas Soucek in order to accommodate the 23-year-old’s forward bursts.
We have lost Soucek’s goal contribution as a result and are nowhere near as solid defensively either.
Rice is already the box-to-box player that Murphy says he will develop into. It really is a shocking take from a so-called pundit.
For England, Declan Rice definitely does play that holding role. But Murphy’s comments clearly pertain to the 23-year-old’s role for West Ham.
For what it’s worth, I feel like the West Ham star has so much more to give for England, but at the end of the day he’s an incredible defensive midfielder. And at international level, you need someone like Rice to protect the backline.
I also feel like he should be doing that job a lot more for the Hammers. We’d see the best out of Soucek again as well if that happened.
And West Ham’s all-round game would undoubtedly improve too.
Sorry Danny, but you’ve got this one badly wring in my opinion!
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