Does anyone still question the signing of Declan Rice?
It baffled me to begin with that people were actually questioning why we had spent £105million on Rice, but in one game he justified that price tag.
“Why sign Declan Rice when we have Thomas Partey. Spend that money on a striker” was what I read most commonly.
Thomas Partey, as brilliant as he is, can not stay fit. He has had muscle injury after muscle injury and has failed to start more than 30 games across all competitions since joining us.
His injury issues are not a new thing. Atletico Madrid also used to manage his game time – the most games he started in a single season for them was 38 during the 2017/18. Atletico played 59 games that year!
In all of the last 3 seasons, our campaign has come off the rails when Partey picked up an injury. It was clear and obvious we needed to get someone in who could be that defensive beast for 50 games a year. And Declan Rice was that man.
We have seen Rice for West Ham and England dominate a midfield on his own. Bit, strong, quick, excellent reader of the game. He is a one man defensive wrecking machine.
Against Manchester United, he was a defensive rock in front of the defence. Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen barely got a sniff.
Rashford’s goal came from when Rice pressed forward and was caught out high up the pitch trying to close down Aaron Wan-Bissaka near the corner flag.
The press worked, but we quickly lost the ball following a sloppy pass by Kai Havertz. With Rice then out of position, Eriksen got his only bit of space of the game and picked out a great ball to Marcus Rashford who went on to score a trademark goal.
It was not really a lapse of judgement by Rice. The high press worked. But it showed how dominant he was in the middle that the incident led to the only time Eriksen or Bruno were able to get on the ball and get their head up.
Declan Rice was signed for the big moments.
For West Ham, he often came up with late goals. Driving into the oppositions area in the closing stages and snatching an equaliser or winner. His attacking prowess is very underrated.
OK, it was a scuffed volley that took a deflection and some horrendous goalkeeping, but in the one swing of the boot Rice made himself an Arsenal hero.
The biggest players step up in the biggest moments. Declan Rice is one of those that consistently finds another level above anyone else on the pitch when it is needed.
And the scary thing is, under a proper coach, Rice will only get better.
He continues to learn Arteta-ball and has spoken recently about how much he has already grown in such a short period. A few more months being coached by Mikel and there will be no more argument – Rice will be the most all-round midfielder in world football.
Enjoy your Tuesday.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Declan rice,a world class player ,and because he is he fits in superbly.
All proper supporters should agreexx
LikeLike
Finally we have a dominating lion in the middle since Patrick Vieira. Considering that Partey is 30 years old and I’m sure Arteta will buy another physical behemoth next season in midfield, I can’t hide my excitement. Nevertheless, we have to get more points in EPL than last season and reach at least QF in CL to progress this season. Maybe a FA Cup, League Cup or both will do nicely. We have still a lot to improve and long way to go but I’m happy with the current progress. The boys are understandably still recovering from a gruelling pre-season training, once they are set physically, they will be a group of excellent technicians.
LikeLike