Green Street Hammers
Fansided

Can Rice continue West Ham form to contain United threats?

By Scott Johnson

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 10: Paul Pogba of Manchester United walks through the bubbles before the Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester United at London Stadium on May 10, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 10: Paul Pogba of Manchester United walks through the bubbles before the Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester United at London Stadium on May 10, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

In recent weeks Declan Rice has shown the footballing world he can be a Premier League Defensive Midfielder. Can he continue that and contain the likes of Paul Pogba today?

West Ham were picked in pre-season as having an issue of a soft midfield. However in recent weeks the midfield three, anchored by Declan Rice, has held strong. With only 1 goal conceded in the last two league matches, it all looks good. But there are always new threats and Manchester United carry many.

Up front they have Lukaku, who has an outstanding record against us, and he could be supported by Martial, another player who loves to score against us, and Alexis Sanchez. All three of those are big threats to the Hammers, but Rice’s job will be focused elsewhere. Can he contain the enigma that is Paul Pogba in the centre of the park?

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham

Last week all the talk was about Hazard and if the Hammers would be able to contain him. Drifting in off his wing he is hard to hold, but a combination of the fullbacks and midfield were able to do so. Pogba won’t drift outside, and will look to dominate the game through the middle. Rice will be tasked with stopping the World Cup winner having too much influence on the game.

He always gets media attention, but Pogba is a genuinely good player. He has a great passing range and is a powerful runner, so Rice will have to be careful to judge how much space to leave him. Get too close and the Frenchman will be around him, but too far off and the creativity Pogba has will take the game past Rice. Rice did well nullifying the pall playing threat of Sigurdsson at Everton, but Pogba has more strings to his bow.

Must Read. United Predictions and GSH Podcast. light

There has been a lot of talk in the past week about Rice’s contract situation, and that does need resolving. I hope that in this match the young midfielder shows the world that he is capable of matching up to world forces. He could reveal exactly why England are asking him to switch nationalities.