DBasia.news – West Ham United closed week 11 of the Premier League before the international break with three positions in the standings. The Hammers in their latest match at the London Stadium, Sunday (07/11) won 3-2 over Liverpool.
West Ham became the first Premier League team to beat Liverpool. Despite losing far in possession (30 to 70%), West Ham played efficiently with seven shots (and three on target).
Three own goals came from Alisson (4′), Pablo Fornals (67′) and Kurt Zouma (74′) which were reduced by Trent Alexander-Arnold (41′) and Divock Origi (83′). Not only won, West Ham also overtook Liverpool in third place with a distance of one point.
David Moyes lifted West Ham’s performance and made the team play collectively. There has been no star player with above average quality who plays individually to lift the team’s performance.
However, if you mention one player who has made a big contribution behind the team’s great performance, it is 22-year-old midfielder, Declan Rice.
Rice’s stats against Liverpool were impressive: 91% pass accuracy, winning duels for the ball by 75%, 21 successful progressive passes (offensive to the opponent’s defence), winning the ball 10 times and six tackle attempts (five successful).
World’s Best Midfielder
The Chelsea academy player is positioned as defensive midfielders with the ability to read the game, cover the back line, and the ability to play offensively in penetrating.
Chelsea legend John Terry, who in fact was an assistant coach at Aston Villa, has no doubts in assessing Rice as the best player in his current position.
“Declan Rice is the best player in the world in his current position. Absolutely a fantastic player,” Terry said on Twitter.
West Ham assistant coach, Stuart Pearce has seen Rice’s rapid development since promotion to the West Ham first team in 2015. At that age, according to Pearce, Rice has developed better than Roy Keane in the same position (Keane was Pearce’s former teammate at Nottingham Forest).
“(Rice can develop) as far as he wants. Every game my expectation (is) he has to be the best player on the pitch, in every game,” Pearce told talkSPORT.
“He’s got the tools to do it, the character to do it. He has everything. He was thrilled to work together in this place. He pushed us in midfield.”
“I sat next to (West Ham coach) Billy McKinlay at the weekend and he said to me, ‘Is he as good as Roy Keane at the same age?’ I said I thought he might be a little bit better.”
“We had Roy in Forest with us before he moved to Manchester United and I have to say he is a bit better than Roy. Is he going to have a career like Roy’s, it’s all there for him.”
“He has to stay fit, keep learning and improving. This season we were lucky he added some goals to his game which I always thought he had the ability to do. He passes people with the ball. He’s a versatile midfielder, he’s probably Bryan Robson,” Pearce stated.