Writing in a Q&A for The Athletic, Alan Shearer has been speaking highly of Declan Rice.
Of course, we’re in the midst of a World Cup, so Shearer was being asked left, right and centre about England’s current crop of stars.
Rice is, as we all know, one of the first names on the England teamsheet these days, and Shearer says that he is a massive fan of the West Ham United midfielder who has recently been linked to Liverpool.
Indeed, the pundit says that Rice can do a bit of everything and that he’s a brilliant calming presence in the midfield.
Shearer hails Rice
The pundit spoke highly of the West Ham star.
“Big fan! I like him a lot. He can do a bit of everything in midfield, he can surge forward with the ball and give you a bit of protection, too. He’s a great, driving force and that calm head. You might not notice him having a good game, but he was one of our better players the other night,” Shearer wrote
Not at his best
It’s interesting that Shearer singled Rice out for praise off the back of the Senegal game, because that was one of his weaker performances.
Yes, he was steady, but he continuously got into the wrong positions as England played out from the back in the early parts of the game, and he couldn’t really make anything happen.
Of course, that doesn’t take away from his form over the past 18 months, but, in our view, Rice was not one of England’s better players on Sunday evening.
Fingers crossed he can step things up against France, and then who knows? Perhaps that touted move to Liverpool will be on the horizon.
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