Declan Rice shared with WHUFC.com what was said between him and Jesse Lingard before he slotted home West Ham United’s opening goal from the spot against Sheffield United on Monday night.
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And the 22-year-old’s admission will be very pleasing to hear for Hammers fans.
Rice explained how he told Lingard that he had to take the penalty in order to obey orders from David Moyes:
“Obviously he wanted it as he’d won the pen, but I’m on the pens so I said to him ‘The gaffer and Kev [Nolan] will batter me if I don’t take this and say I’m getting bullied and all sorts and I can’t have that’, so he said ‘All right’. I don’t want to one of those who goes over and tries to look like the big guy and takes the ball off him. I’m not like that. I’d have been happy for him to take it, but I had to take it and luckily enough I scored.”
The fact that there is now a professional culture amongst the West Ham players at the London Stadium really is great news.
The Hammers players are held to account for their actions and performances under David Moyes.
Declan Rice admission a sign of seismic change at West Ham
Accountability was non-existent under previous regimes, particularly that of Manuel Pellegrini.
There has been a massive shift in mentality since David Moyes took over at the London Stadium for the second time in December 2019.
The results and performances are proof that West Ham are a completely different proposition now to what we were a couple of years ago.
And Rice sticking to orders rather than giving the penalty to the new-boy Jesse Lingard is evidence of a real evolution at West Ham. Exciting times undoubtedly lie ahead. It’s great to see the players behaving professionally.
David Moyes is clearly a harsh taskmaster. And that was clearly exactly what the Hammers needed.
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