Declan Rice has taken to Instagram to send a message to West Ham starlet Nathan Holland.
The winger made his full debut in the disastrous 4-0 defeat to Oxford United on Wednesday evening, and shared a photo from the evening to his personal account with the caption: “Devastated about the result last night but very grateful for the opportunity.”
Replying to that post, Rice wrote: “Keep working brother”.
OPINION
You have to feel for Holland. For a while now there have been serious calls to get him into the first team for a full debut, and the one time that Manuel Pellegrini decides to do just that is the one time that the Hammers fully capitulate. In truth, this probably wasn’t the best personal debut by a long, long shot. Holland occasionally looked bright, making one progressive run and having three touches in the opposition box, as per Wyscout, but given how poorly everybody else around him played, it would be misguided to judge the youngster too harshly. He will get other opportunities, and you would fancy him to seize them with both hands. It’s just a shame that a night that could have been so special for the wide man will go down as one he would much, much rather forget.
