Declan Rice sent a message to West Ham youngster Nathan Holland after the attacker scored a brace for the U-23s on Sunday.
Holland added another two goals to his tally for the season during the Hammers’ 4-2 victory over Sunderland and celebrated his own performance on Instagram.
“Another 3 points and 2 more goals, enjoy the journey and trust the process,” wrote the Hammers winger on his personal Instagram.
The 21-year-old’s post on social media prompted Rice to send him a one-word message, via his verified Instagram account, which simply said “woof” in order to show how impressed he was.
OPINION
‘Woof’ may not be the standard way of praising someone’s performance, but the word can be used as a way to show you’re in awe of someone and Rice clearly would have been impressed by Holland’s latest antics. Also, the 21-year-old clearly sends a positive message by saying “trust the process” as you feel that is his way of saying that he has kept his chin up following his somewhat disappointing outing for the senior side. Holland made his first appearance of the season for the Hammers’ first-team against Oxford United and considering his side lost 4-0 to a League One club, he’ll likely felt like he didn’t have much to cheer nor would he had felt that he had completely convinced Manuel Pellegrini of his ability. However, it is worth noting that Holland was one of Hammers player who didn’t let himself down against Oxford. The 21-year-old showed glimpses of his talent, he made two key passes, had two shots and actually managed to complete a dribble, as per WhoScored, and hopefully, his continued form for the U-23s will see Pellegrini opt to give him another crack at senior football sooner rather than later.
