West Ham Centurion Declan Rice still has plenty of growing to do

Hardly ever the headline catcher, but always the best player for West Ham, Declan Rice was superb in his 100th Premier League match but has yet to reach his full potential.

The West Ham homegrown talent in midfield has rocketed up the league table in positional power rankings ever since making the switch to defensive midfield. His stout physicality and timely tackling have made him an elite defender, while his passing and ability to trot up the pitch adds versatility to his game.

Against Southampton, with Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio, Pablo Fornals, and Sebastien Haller were stealing all of the headlines, Rice was as steady as ever, breaking up play and outletting the ball.

He had a 7.7 ranking on WhoScored.com, putting him fifth on the team in in-game rankings behind all three attackers. Contributing to this score was his 31 passes (second-most on the team), one key pass, three tackles, three interceptions, and five clearances. All of these stats suggest Rice was breaking up play and moving the ball out, both at an elite level.

While all of these statistics are impressive, there certainly is some growing left to do for young Declan Rice. In his past two games he has shown exactly why he isn’t yet wearing the armband over Mark Noble.

Against Liverpool, in the 51st minute, Rice kicked the ball away on a tackle he felt shouldn’t have resulted in a foul. In return, Rice picked up a yellow card, restricting him and his physical play for the next 40 minutes in a 1-1 game at Anfield.

Against the Saints after Obafemi’s goal, Rice’s head dropped with flopped arms as well. The team needs positivity from within and to keep their heads held high when looking to build on momentum and not get overwhelmed by adversity. Rice needs to cut this out of his game and look at goals against or negatives as learning experiences and reasons to continue getting better.

It’s nit-picking, sure, but Rice has all the ability to be an elite footballer. He’s a born leader, too, but needs to iron out the mental game to match his peak performance on the pitch. Hopefully, Rice can mature into the player we all know he is and sticks with the Hammers for the foreseeable future.