Stuart Pearce insisted that West Ham defender Declan Rice needed to play more games after witnessing him play against Everton on Sunday.
The Sky Sports pundit labelled the 19-year-old enforcer’s display, during his side’s 3-1 win over the Toffees, fantastic before sharing that he thought the teenager had a great future ahead of him.
Pearce made the remarks when naming his Premier League Team of the Weekend and claimed that Rice along with Pedro Obiang may solve the club’s problems in midfield.
“Both Milner and Rice played in midfield for their respective teams,” the pundit wrote on Sky Sports’ website.
“The reason why West Ham haven’t played particularly well this season is because they’ve been too loose in midfield. Rice and Obiang played in the central roles on Sunday and were fantastic. Rice has a great future in front of him and needs the games now.”
OPINION
Rice, who stands at 6ft tall (Source: Transfermarkt), surely is the answer to Manuel Pellegrini’s problems in midfield and surely the Hammers boss knows it after Sunday’s game with Everton. The Hammers racked their long-awaited first win of the season and Rice was a key reason why the London club cruised to victory. The 19-year-old quietly won the midfield battle for his side alongside Obiang and oozed quality when it came to distributing the ball to his more attacking teammates. While Rice wouldn’t have grabbed the headlines against the Toffees, the important job he did on Goodison Park shouldn’t go unnoticed or unrewarded. As Pearce stated the Hammers starlet needs more games under his belt in order to continue his development and he should keep his place in the team as a reward for his impressive display in his latest outing. If Pellegrini was to drop Rice anytime soon then surely it would be a mistake.
