Rice: I left here a boy and returned a man
DECLAN RICE did not have any countries fighting for his international allegiance the last time he played at St James’ Park.
Hooked during the interval after a sloppy first half that day in which he was out- fought and outthought, the teenager took stock of his fledgling career.
West Ham were beaten 3-0 then. On Saturday, 15 months on, the scoreline was reversed. Rice, now 19, was outstanding, accepting the analogy that he left Tyneside as a boy last season and returned a man.
‘I’ve grown so much since then,’ said the midfielder coveted by England and the Republic of Ireland.
‘You could see it, I was a different player to last year. That day, being subbed off at half-time, it made me into the person I am. You need one of those rickets in your career.
‘It was only my third game in. I was gutted but I learnt from my mistake.’
So rapid has been Rice’s improvement, England manager Gareth Southgate wants him to defect from the Republic of Ireland, the country of his grandparents for whom he appeared three times in friendlies earlier this year.
Any decision is on hold for now, but Rice welcomes the proposal of a meeting with new Ireland manager Mick McCarthy. ‘Mick has spoken to my dad and he wants to meet us, which I said was fine.
‘There are a lot of things going on with my football at the moment. I’m playing week in, week out and obviously there’s my contract situation, which is a lot to take on at a young age. The England-Ireland situation is a lot to take on. I’m just focused on playing for West Ham and I said that to Martin O’Neill when he was Ireland boss and he totally understood.’
West Ham entertain Cardiff tomorrow bidding for successive victories for the first time since January 2017.
On this evidence, you’d back them to achieve it. Javier Hernandez scored twice before man of the match Felipe Anderson added a third in stoppage time.
Hammers defender Pablo Zabaleta, however, says the Brazilian winger needs to produce this level of performance every week.
‘Felipe is improving game by game,’ Zabaleta said.
‘When he is at his best, he is a real player, very dangerous going forward. But consistency is what you look for and we are hoping he can continue like this.’
Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez pointed to the £40million spent on Anderson as the difference between the sides, and he was right.
Benitez said: ‘They have spent a lot of money and you can see they have brought some quality,’ he said after a run of three straight wins came to an abrupt end.
‘For sure, they will not be in a relegation battle.’
With the likes of Rice and Anderson, West Ham have every right to look up, and not down. NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-4-1-1): Dubravka 6; Yedlin 5, Schar 5, Fernandez 6, Manquillo 6; Ritchie 5 (Atsu 54 5), Diame 5, Ki 7, Kenedy 6 (Shelvey 70 5); Perez 5 (Joselu 78, 5); Rondon 6. Subs not used: Woodman, Clark, Lascelles, Longstaff. Booked: Schar, Ritchie, Yedlin. Manager: Rafa Benitez 5. WEST HAM UNITED (4-4-2): Fabianksi 6.5; Zabaleta 6.5, Balbuena 6.5, Diop 6.5, Cresswell 6 (Masuaku 54, 6); Snodgrass 7, Rice 7, Noble 7 (Wilshere 85), ANDERSON 8; Arnautovic 7 (Obiang 71 6), Hernandez 7.5. Subs not used: Adrian, Carroll, Ogbonna, Perez. Scorers: Hernandez 11, 63, Anderson 90. Booked: Snodgrass, Zabaleta, Noble. Manager: Manuel Pellegrini 7. Referee: Paul Tierney 7. Attendance: 51,853.