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Declan Rice shows maturity to perform under spotlight

By Scott Johnson

KINGSTON UPON THAMES, ENGLAND - AUGUST 28: Issa Diop of West Ham United celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between AFC Wimbledon and West Ham United at The Cherry Red Records Stadium on August 28, 2018 in Kingston upon Thames, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
KINGSTON UPON THAMES, ENGLAND - AUGUST 28: Issa Diop of West Ham United celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between AFC Wimbledon and West Ham United at The Cherry Red Records Stadium on August 28, 2018 in Kingston upon Thames, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
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Declan Rice won’t have had much practice dealing with media speculation before. However the West Ham youngster showed his maturity with last night’s performance.

It’s never nice to try and concentrate when you know people are talking about you. For footballers it becomes par for the course, but it’s still not great. Especially when it isn’t about your footballing ability. West Ham will have to make sure that Declan Rice doesn’t get too bogged down with the Ireland/England controversy.

However on first showing Rice showed that he will be able to deal with most of it. That being said, I would hope Wimbledon wouldn’t provide the sternest challenge to his abilities. But it shows the youngster is a lot more mature than people give him credit for, and that is probably why those looking to get clicks out of articles harpooning him for actually thinking should probably leave him alone.

A time to think

Declan Rice was born in London and was raised in England. He qualifies for Ireland by virtue of a Grandmother, so he is exactly as Irish as I am Welsh. Obviously I am not good enough at football for this decision to ever impact my life, but it’s a decision I understand him taking time over.

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If I was called up by Wales for youth international football, I would have gone without hesitation. I consider myself English first, but the fact that international football was there I would have taken it. However at senior level you become locked to a nation, and that makes any commitment very tough, especially for someone of Rice’s standard.

He probably feels more English due to his place of birth and upbringing (although I may be wrong there), and England are the footballing nation with better chance of success. So if you could guarantee him playing for England going forward, I think he’d take it. That being said, he’s probably not of that superstar standard, and would definitely play regularly for Ireland. He obviously wants to play for Ireland, because he’s accepted it before and spoken of that pride, but decisions can take a while.

Last night he showed that when he’s on the pitch discussions of his career and future were not on his mind. He looked comfortable on the ball and helped his teammates control the game as it progressed. Those looking to take a moral high-ground argument should just remember it is possible to have loyalties to more than one nation, and that his future career trajectory could be impacted by this decision. He has a right to think.

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Whatever decision he makes I hope West Ham fans don’t give him grief, even the Irish ones. He’s a decent guy by all accounts, and he has not meant to offend anyone by taking time. In fact it’s completely the opposite. Let him decide and let him carry on his career. He hopefully has a bright one ahead of him, for both club and country.