03 March 2023 , 18:44
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Manchester United icon Roy Keane has doubled down on his scathing criticism of West Ham ’s Declan Rice after spotting issues back in 2019.
The England star has endured a frustrating campaign at the London Stadium, with the Hammers battling against relegation in the Premier League. David Moyes’ side were on the wrong end of another defeat in midweek as Man Utd put on a late show at Old Trafford to knock them out of the FA Cup.
Keane was particularly brutal in his assessment of Rice’s showing. During ITV's coverage of the game, he said: “He has first got to focus on West Ham and doing well for the rest of the season, but I don’t think he has been great this season.
“I don’t think he has kicked on for all the talk there has been about him - he needs to do a lot more. He doesn’t score enough goals or get enough assists. I have been a fan of him, he is always fit, but I just want a little bit more from him.
“There is talk of him leaving for big money and competing with teams for trophies, and he needs to do a lot more, it is as simple as that. Sometimes I see him play at West Ham, and he goes through the motions and he needs to do a lot more to match the top midfielders in the country.”
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“But I think it’s better to play well in a bad team. To me, he doesn’t stand out in a bad team, which is a worry.”
It is not the first time that Keane has torn into Rice for his performances. After playing in England’s 4-0 thumping over Montenegro in November 2019, he suggested that Rice needed to work on his “positional play, consistency, tracking runners and his sloppiness in possession.”
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West Ham boss Moyes has already responded to Keane’s recent criticism of his midfield star and suggested that the ex-Man Utd man’s blast was somewhat unjustified, while declaring his desire to keep his 'future England captain' at the club for the foreseeable future.
“I think Declan [Rice] has played really well for us,” Moyes said ahead of this weekend’s clash with Brighton at the Amex Stadium. “For a young player to have, what, 40 England caps at his age. No doubt he is going to go on and be an England captain in the future, or I think so.
“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. I think he’s played really, really well and I think he’s going to go on and be a top player. Hopefully that will be with West Ham, that would be our choice. We would like it to be here. I believe he will go on to be a really good player.
“What I will say is Roy Keane was probably the best midfield player of his generation and he can certainly spot a good player because he played that position incredibly well over many, many years.”