Christian Dailly Hammers News

Sky Sports pundit hails Rice for impressive start to season

|
Image for Sky Sports pundit hails Rice for impressive start to season

Former Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur midfield Jamie Redknapp has hailed the performances of West Ham youngster Declan Rice after the youngster broke into Slaven Bilic’s side for the opening few games of the season.

After playing every game in pre-season for the Hammers, Rice has made the formal step-up to the first team since the beginning of the new campaign, and has already begun to make a name for himself with his impressive performances.

Rice was the stand-out player for West Ham in both of their previous top flight games – defeats at both Manchester United and Southampton – however despite the results, Redknapp, son of former Hammers boss Harry, says the youngster has been excellent in Slaven Bilic’s midfield.

“West Ham have not had the ideal start but there were two big positives for Slaven Bilic in defeat at Southampton,” Redknapp wrote in The Daily Mail.

“First, Declan Rice impressed in midfield. He can play there and at centre back and is a good communicator. I’m sure Bilic sees a bit of himself in the 18-year-old. Javier Hernandez was another big plus, with two trademark poacher’s goals.”

The Hammers travel to Newcastle on Saturday and will be hoping to earn their first points of the Premier League, and Rice is yet again set to be involved. An under 23 Republic of Ireland international, the defender-come-midfielder says he is relishing his new role in the Hammers first-team.

“It’s nice to see there is a lot of positive talk about me, as I’ve been working really, really hard on the training pitch and all the lads have really helped me. These last three games have probably been the best three games of my life, really, being around the first team and the fans and everything about it has been unbelievable.”

Share this article