The form books for West Ham won’t show any sort of upturn when you look at the result from their recent clash with Liverpool on Monday evening, but when you dissect the performance from that defeat there is plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
The form of Lukasz Fabianski in that clash and the injury suffered to Tomas Soucek aren’t at all reasons to be pleased, but the fact that Declan Rice looks to be getting back to his best is a massive reason to celebrate, as now the young England international looks to be finding his groove.
The last two games that the Hammers have faced in the Premier League are possible the two hardest that any top-flight English can team can face, back-to-back away days to Manchester City and Liverpool, yet Rice came out of the daunting doubleheader with his head held very high.
It’s not just those two games where Rice has shone, though, in the last four games that he’s played his lowest rating as per WhoScored is an impressive 6.45, whilst during the home defeat to Liverpool at the end of January, he recorded a huge 7.22.
Across these last four games, Rice has racked up a mightily impressive 12 tackles, nine interceptions, four key passes and six successful dribbles, the sort of stats you wouldn’t expect from a holding midfield man playing for a team that look to be facing the drop (WhoScored).
Will we keep Declan Rice leave over the summer?
Yes
No
Rice certainly won’t be able to keep the Hammers up on his own. However, if he can provide the base with his performances and allow the attacking options around him to go forward and do what they can offensively, then there’s no reason why survival can’t be achieved.
