West Ham’s Declan Rice picked up 3 awards at the end of season celebration last night: Players’ Player, Young HOTY and Best Individual Performance. As the runner up in HOTY as well, it caps a wonderful season for the youngster.
If there was one player that you knew was going to win awards last night it was Declan Rice. Not only has he improved more than any other player in recent years, and the last season particularly, but he is liked by everyone throughout West Ham. There isn’t a bad word to be said about him.
Whilst Hammer of the Year went to Lukas Fabianski, a deserving recipient, Rice picked up arguably the most desirable award in players’ player. It shows that not only have you been at the top of your game but you’re also a likeable guy as well. And if anyone is going to be a judge of your ability on the pitch, it’s the players around you right?
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If you had to pinpoint a moment in the season where you knew it was going to be him that won players’ player it was definitely after his goal against Arsenal. Obviously everyone was happy to be ahead, and that Rice had got his first goal. However this look was different. You could see how happy everyone was for Rice. How much they thought he deserved it. He is the heart of this team and the award showed it.
It was that performance that won Rice individual performance of the year, and in terms of one man dominating a single 90 minutes it was spot on. If Issa Diop had scored against Spurs then maybe he could have been in contention, but apart from that no single performance has come close. That game he was everywhere, cutting supply to the Arsenal attack and supporting ours.
Declan Rice, if he wants to stay at the club, could go on to win multiple HOTY awards and become a legend here. The sky really is the limit for him and these awards only go part of the way to show his talent and contribution. Lets hope he’s here next year to compete again and show how much he loves the club.