What an incredible day that was for West Ham United against Arsenal on Saturday…but not a good one at all for Declan Rice.
Declan Rice left West Ham after 10 years at the club to join Arsenal in the summer of 2023.
Rice joined the Gunners in a £105 million deal – and that was seen as good business for both clubs really at the time.
When the England international left the club, the West Ham dressing room was said to be an incredibly quiet one and seriously lacking in characters and leaders.
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Since the 26-year-old moved to north London, the Hammers have incredibly beaten Arsenal at the Emirates in both seasons.
Despite the fact that West Ham have never properly replaced Rice at the London Stadium, we have always given him nightmares when we’ve played against him on the Gunners’ own patch.
And it happened again on Saturday as the Hammers put a dent in Arsenal’s title hopes for the third consecutive season!
West Ham fans will love what Declan Rice was doing on Arsenal bench
The former Hammers midfielder has been good on the whole for the Gunners since joining them 18 months ago.
However, he never seems to be at his best when coming up against his former club.
The pressure to perform seems to get to Rice, and that happened on Saturday once again.
Mikel Arteta hooked Rice after just 57 minutes of the game, and the 26-year-old clearly wasn’t happy one little bit.
He made just one tackle, one interception, one clearance and won ZERO aerial duels (Who Scored) – all well down on his numbers throughout the season.
The midfielder looked thoroughly devastated that he had once again failed to deliver against his former club.
And West Ham fans will be in utter hysterics after seeing a picture that emerged of him sitting on Arsenal’s bench following being hauled off the pitch:
Poor old Rice eh …🤣.
Declan Rice has made his bed at Arsenal
The thing is, he could have been a legend at West Ham, had he remained with us and helped us kick on to a new era of success.
The pressure is really on him to win something with Arsenal otherwise the move to The Emirates would have been totally pointless.
Declan Rice just doesn’t seem to be happy at Arsenal right now, and certainly isn’t enjoying himself like he did during his time with West Ham.
The 26-year-old is still a very good player in my opinion but I must say, I don’t see how he has improved since leaving us.
If anything, Rice has regressed over the past 18 months.
The thing is, he said he had to leave West Ham to win trophies. Funny how football has a way of coming back to bite you isn’t it.
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