---
title: "West Ham United: Many fans have come to the defence of Declan Rice"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/west-ham-united-many-fans-have-come-to-the-defence-of-declan-rice/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Danny Lewis"
section: "Premier League"
published: "2019-10-14T15:05:13Z"
modified: "2019-10-14T15:05:13Z"
---

# West Ham United: Many fans have come to the defence of Declan Rice

**The England national team have received plenty of criticism from fans following the 2-1 loss at the hands of Czech Republic.**

Declan Rice was one of those who got the most, with various fans already writing off the 20-year-old, saying that he is overrated, overpriced and shouldn’t be near the England team.

However, many West Ham fans have come to the defence of their midfielder:

> Respect Declan Rice please England fans, he’s exactly what we need at the base of midfield and is still only 20. [#rice](https://twitter.com/hashtag/rice?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#england](https://twitter.com/hashtag/england?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/GwbWzBsdb3](https://t.co/GwbWzBsdb3)
>
> — . (@George\_westham) [October 13, 2019](https://twitter.com/George_westham/status/1183387799057326080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Rice has already reached 78 appearances for West Ham, as per [**Transfermarkt**](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/declan-rice/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/357662/verein/379), which is an impressive figure when it is considered that he is still only 20-years-old – in addition to that, he has played in [**6**](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/declan-rice/nationalmannschaft/spieler/357662/verein_id/3299) of England’s last 7 games.

It is not just his number of appearances that are notable, as his performances within them should also be applauded: this season, he has averaged 3.8 tackles, 2.3 interceptions, 0.6 clearances and 0.4 blocks per game, while also making 1.3 dribbles and completing 89.5% of his attempted passes, as per [**WhoScored**](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/332325/Show/Declan-Rice).

So whether people feel Rice had a bad game or not, many Hammers fans have pointed out that he should not be written off, having witnessed his talent week in week out.

A selection of Twitter reaction to the criticism, including posts from defensive West Ham fans, can be seen below:

> [@Brophyyyyyy](https://twitter.com/Brophyyyyyy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) this is what we see week in week out. This is why he’s worth his weight in gold pal
>
> — Casey young (@CaseCaseyeyoung) [October 13, 2019](https://twitter.com/CaseCaseyeyoung/status/1183406404817903618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> [@\_DeclanRice](https://twitter.com/_DeclanRice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) wow….when you know someone is so good and then you see this
>
> — sophia (@sophatia23) [October 13, 2019](https://twitter.com/sophatia23/status/1183428253912092675?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> [pic.twitter.com/fYat6kuYAU](https://t.co/fYat6kuYAU)
>
> — Michael Jeffries (@MJ\_Jeffries) [October 13, 2019](https://twitter.com/MJ_Jeffries/status/1183410813933146112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Well then you just are absolutely clueless
>
> — Juho (@AlmostaTrueFan) [October 13, 2019](https://twitter.com/AlmostaTrueFan/status/1183498492699918339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> 20 year old player has one bad game in two years and everyone jumps on him. This is why we will never win anything.
>
> — Matt Ware (@Matthew\_Ware\_II) [October 13, 2019](https://twitter.com/Matthew_Ware_II/status/1183319254373978113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Looking at these replies people who don’t rate Rice need to watch him week in week out and actually need to have an understanding of football to rate him
>
> — Kieran (@kieran\_1844) [October 13, 2019](https://twitter.com/kieran_1844/status/1183313242619351040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

***West Ham fans, how underrated is Rice? Join the discussion by commenting below…***