West Ham United have something of a centre-back crisis on their hands at the moment.
Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma may all not play again this season, and that means that Craig Dawson is the only senior fit centre-half in the squad.
However, David Moyes may have a slightly unorthodox solution to this issue, and it involves Declan Rice.
Rice may be seen as one of the best midfielders in England at the moment, but he started his career as a centre-half, and he’s even said recently that he wouldn’t complain if he had to move back into the defence, stating that he was even asked to earlier in the season.
“I feel like, for the moment, I’m happy in midfield 100 per cent. I would never complain if I have to go back to centre-back,” Rice told The Overlap.
“The manager [David Moyes] pulled me the other day, [Craig] Dawson might not have made the game, so I was going to play centre-half – he made the game – no problem at all, I know the position.
“It’s tough, it’s a totally different game to midfield but maybe one day, when I get older and the legs are gone, I might go back to centre-half, but at this moment in time, I’m loving this midfield role.”
Rice moving to centre-half could be a smart move, but of course, West Ham would be losing a lot if he did have to play in the defence as he’s so well-suited to a midfield role.
In fact, Rice told the Evening Standard that it was laughable that people still consider him a defender.
“It’s laughable,” said Rice. “I think you can see in my game I’m never a centre-back. I feel like I’ve got too much ability to be playing at the back.”
“I feel like as I’ve progressed and got taller, stronger and better on the ball I’ve moved into midfield I’ve built the confidence to play there. Now that is where I feel I influence the game the most. I feel like if I went back to the back I wouldn’t have much impact on the game.”
It may be laughable in Rice’s opinion for him to play at centre-half when he’s so good in the midfield, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
The reality is that West Ham have enough depth in midfield to cope with Rice moving deeper. After all, Tomas Soucek, Mark Noble and Alex Kral can all play in the centre of the park.
Craig Dawson needs some help at centre-half, and Rice may be the man to provide the much-needed reinforcement.
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