West Ham midfielder Declan Rice came in for criticism from some England supporters, as well as a few pundits, for his display against Bulgaria yesterday.
After the match, Lee Dixon was not very complimentary about some aspects of the 20-year-old’s performance while some fans on social media were also critical. However, Hammers supporters were having none of it:
Sheer class the pundits were pathetic with their comments! ⚒????????
— STEVE BURTON (@Steveb1953WHU) 8 September 2019
The boy played well,especially second half,could of been man of the match
— Colin keenan (@colinkeenan71) 8 September 2019
Class????
— BritishFootballWoman (@man_co_jp_) 7 September 2019
Was there today and Rice was superb. ??
— ⚒BIG BAZ⚒???? (@BigBaz1975) 8 September 2019
He played really well. Especially in the 2nd half. There’s a few jealous fans out there that try to say he’s not good enough.
— ⚒ Forever West Ham ⚒ (@ForeverWestHam4) 7 September 2019
I think it's actually embarrassing the lack of knowledge a lot of supposed @England fans have when it comes to assessing a defensive midfielder like @_DeclanRice and his role in the team. He hasn't put a foot wrong in this game, outstanding performance.
— BKHammer (@BKhammer1) 7 September 2019
He is deffo good enough….a future captain!!!
— Bib??????????????? (@Bib29823254) 7 September 2019
Well Played Mr Rice that was nice, top performance
— Sash Window solutions (@window_sash) 7 September 2019
We love you dec
— William Lovell-Young (@youngbill666) 8 September 2019
It can be hard to stand out for a defensive midfielder when there isn’t a lot to do defensively. Rice is also still developing as a player and it must be said that he is still learning his position.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini only started to pick him regularly as a holding midfield player at the start of last season, and he is still far stronger on the defensive side of things rather than on the ball currently.
Rice will, though, work hard on any weaknesses in his game and he continues to impress every time he puts on a West Ham shirt.