WITH this summer’s European Championship on the horizon, there is understandably excitement about England’s prospects, such is the level of young talent at Gareth Southgate’s disposal.
The Three Lions boss has goal-scorers in captain Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford. He has boundless creativity from the likes of Jack Grealish, Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden. And he has midfield pass masters in the shape of Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount and Jude Bellingham.
There remains, though, a dearth of ball-winners in the middle of the park. The scarcity of combative, protective types to balance out the flair and invention of the attacking corps means that Declan Rice could soon find himself as crucial to England’s hopes of success as he has been to West Ham’s climb up the Premier League table.
“He’s fantastic player to work with and he really wants to learn and to improve,” Southgate said of the 22-year-old midfielder ahead of March’s international break. “To be captain of his club at such a young age tells you all you need to know really about his personality and his character.”
“He’s outstanding at recovering balls in midfield. I think there are only a couple higher in the league in terms of recoveries in those midfield areas.
“I think there is still more to come with the ball, that building of attacks, that receiving from defence and transferring the ball quickly forward. We see evidence of it and we see at times he has the athleticism to drive forward with the ball as well.”
Southgate is of course right to suggest that Rice, despite being still in a relatively early stage of his career, is one of the most refined midfielders in the Premier League when it comes to recovering the ball and shielding the back line.
According to FBref.com, the West Ham skipper ranks in the 93rd percentile among all midfielders in Europe’s top five league for interceptions per 90 minutes over the last year, and the 72nd percentile for tackles.
His developing ability to read the game and break up play is evidenced by the fact that this season he is producing a career-high average of 2.1 interceptions per 90, up from 1.32 last term.
⚒ – @lequipe has listed Declan Rice as the second most valuable midfielder in the world, behind Bruno Fernandes. pic.twitter.com/zDGiInFnJY
— West Ham Central (@WestHam_Central) March 23, 2021
But Rice has also shown developmental leaps in the areas of his game Southgate highlighted as being ripe for improvement.
While the number and accuracy of passes Rice is making this season has changed little compared with the two previous campaigns, the ambition he is now showing on the ball is evident when diving a little deeper into his statistics.
His 0.66 passes into the penalty area per 90 is a career best, up from 0.47 last season. His progressive passes – defined as a pass which moves the ball at least 10 metres closer to the opponent’s goal – are at an all-time high, too, at 3.07 per 90 from 2.95.
He is touching the ball in the attacking third of the pitch and the opponent’s penalty area more than ever before. And he has found such comfort with the ball at his feet that he is making progressive runs that add up to an average 130.9 yards moved toward the opposition’s goal per 90, better than his previous top mark of 96.6 yards.
It seems Rice’s team-mates are noticing his renewed confidence in possession, too. They are passing to him more than ever before, with the 13-cap England midfielder the target of 39.8 passes from colleagues per 90, an increase of 4.2 on last season.
Past concerns over whether Rice was competent and confident enough in possession to steward the base of midfield for England have been expelled by his performances in West Ham’s rise to fifth in the table this season.
It is no wonder, then, that the likes of Chelsea – the club who released him from their academy as a 14-year-old – and Manchester United are believed to be eying big-money moves. Such interest has led to West Ham’s owners reportedly placing a £100m price tag on their prized star, yet manager David Moyes feels that figure still undervalues his captain.
"I don't agree with the owners that Declan Rice is a £100m footballer,” Moyes said. “Far, far more than £100m. Far, far more.
"I look at the players who have joined some clubs from overseas and come in and nowhere near had the impact Declan Rice would have.
"I certainly wouldn't put a price on it. You can decide which figure you want to put on it, but I wouldn't be sanctioning anything like that, that's for sure."
As highly valued as he is at the London Stadium, Rice’s rare and ever-improving skill set could see him become priceless for England this summer.
