DECLAN RICE APPEARS to be a young man with a bright future.
At just 18, the Irish defender has been enjoying his first taste of Premier League football with struggling West Ham this season.
Having featured in a half-dozen games this term, London-born Rice was named in David Moyes’ team to face current leaders Manchester City at the Etihad yesterday.
In just his third league start, the teenager — who is comfortable at centre-half and in midfield — performed admirably at the heart of the Hammers’ defence.
That said, Rice was beaten to the ball by Nicolas Otamendi before seeing it come off his leg for City’s first goal, and he could only watch on as Kevin de Bruyne’s pin-point ball sailed off his head for David Silva to finish brilliantly in a 2-1 win for the home side.
Moyes described it was a learning experience for the youngster, while Match of the Day 2 pundits Matthew Upson and Phil Neville both singled him out for praise during their analysis.
“There are a lot of positives they [West Ham] can draw from the game,” Upson said last night. “They defended extremely well, they worked hard and they looked like they had a real structure to their play.
“But this lad, for his first Premier League start at centre-back… he’s started two before so it’s his third start in the Premier League but they were in midfield.
He handled himself brilliantly. He was in a back three and I thought his decision-making — when to come out and when to hold his position — like in these types of dangerous areas where he identifies it, releases himself and just tidies up nicely.
“He did that all afternoon. I think it’s natural but I think he has been working on it [too]. It’s something he has been doing in training, I think he’s very aware of tactically improving at such a young age.
“The goal was very difficult for him. He’s got one eye on [Sergio] Aguero, who he was marking initially, and it’s just that experience. At U23 football, you don’t get those kind of deliveries coming into the box. That will be a new experience for him to have somebody like [Kevin] De Bruyne whip that ball in with that kind of quality.
“It’s something that playing time and time again, week-in week-out at this level… he’s just going to get better and better.”
Neville added: “It’s a great learning experience for him today because he did play really well but for the big moment in the game, he switched off for a split second. Like Matt said, he would never had played against someone with the ability to put it exactly at the right spot — just over his head where he couldn’t reach it.
“He did play really well. The test now is can he do it against Chelsea in the next game and can he do it against Arsenal?”
Rice is a regular at U21 level for Ireland and, although he has trained with the senior squad, remains uncapped by manager Martin O’Neill.
With no World Cup to look forward, the friendly fixtures next year would appear to be the ideal time to give him an opportunity in a green jersey.
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