Steven Gerrard and striker Troy Deeney have set the record straight on Declan Rice after new criticism of the West Ham captain.
From the minute West Ham fans laid eyes on Declan Rice in the first team they knew he was special.
It took the rest of the world some time to wake up to the supreme talent of the Hammers talisman and some still seem to remain unconvinced.
Rice has had to gradually earn the respect of many rival fans and pundits with top performance after top performance for England and West Ham over the last few years.
But this season the narrative around Rice has changed dramatically with persistent criticism from the likes of Graeme Souness and Roy Keane.
Given both were preeminent central midfielders of the game, their words carry weight – and make headlines, as West Ham fans know only too well of late.
Rice recently said he feels some of Souness’ criticism is very ‘harsh’.
But even after his man of the match display for England in the win over Italy, Souness was highly critical of West Ham’s star man in his column in The Daily Mail.
Now one of the game’s other great central midfield players, Steven Gerrard, has leapt to Rice’s defence along with respected Birmingham captain Troy Deeney.
Gerrard and striker Deeney have set the record straight on Rice after new criticism of the West Ham captain.
With Souness doubling down on his criticism of Rice over the weekend, Deeney spoke out directly against the pundit, telling him he has got it all wrong.
And speaking during Channel 4’s coverage of England’s win over Ukraine, Gerrard questioned the criticism from “certain” people about aspects of Rice’s game by pointing out he is a specialist defensive midfielder.
“It was a fantastic display (vs Italy) and he’s had a little bit of criticism of late,” the Liverpool legend said on Channel 4 on Sunday night.
“Certain people have questioned certain things that he does. He’s a specialist in there. He’s a holding midfielder who’s got great legs, great energy. He can burst forward, he can see a pass. We can see that he can get on the scoresheet. It was the perfect way to answer any criticism.
“To go away to Italy, a really tough game – get man of the match, be dominant and help your team get over the line – which he did (says everything).”
Deeney did not shy away from going straight at Souness in his column with The Sun. The striker says the pundit has got it all wrong and pointed out that he can reel off a host of top midfield players who don’t score or assist with regularity.
“I thought Graeme Souness’ criticism of Declan Rice was quite harsh,” Deeney says in The Sun.
“Graeme’s opinion is that to be a world-class midfielder, you need to create and score more goals. He feels Declan does not do that.
“But you can rattle off loads of names who don’t score loads — N’Golo Kante, Casemiro, Rodri, Thomas Partey and Toni Kroos to name a few.
“For me, Declan is world class. This kid plays so many games a year and is still a young man getting used to that…
“Personally, I don’t think Declan would have been too bothered by it. Why? Because Declan — born in 1999 — did not grow up watching Souness, who retired in 1991.
“I like Graeme, he is a good pundit and a top man but I don’t think players in the modern game hold too much value on his opinion. He is a professional who had a lot of success in his own career.
“But the guys nowadays would be more fussed hearing from those they remember watching play, like a Yaya Toure or a Steven Gerrard. Dec probably mirrored his game on those two.”
Former West Ham star Joe Cole also defended Rice in the face of the new criticism.
Cole pointed out that being a specialist defensive midfielder did not stop his old Chelsea teammate Claude Makelele being regarded as one of the best in the world.
Classy Italy captain Marco Verratti was also gushing in his praise of Rice over the last week.
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