Declan Rice

[OFT]

I can't believe that just happened

Great minds n'evryfin

[Penfold711]

Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere.

http://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2017 ... -i-want-be

Sounds like he has a good sensible head on his shoulders to go with his talent.

[hammers92]

I know he made that mistake for the 1st goal but I thought it was a touch of class at the end coming over and holding his hands up and certainly doesn't deserve, I think any criticism. He's played 4 games in his professional career and so far shown plenty of promise. Hopefully yesterday doesn't ruin him and he disappears like Oxford, there's plenty to be excited about with this guy

[LeonRivers]

It was less of a mistake than Lanzini's for the second.

[Kialos]

Being hauled off at half time is more likely to ruin him than making a the actual mistake. We'd have no team left on the pitch if that applied to everyone

[the celestial insect]

I know he made that mistake for the 1st goal but I thought it was a touch of class at the end coming over and holding his hands up and certainly doesn't deserve, I think any criticism. He's played 4 games in his professional career and so far shown plenty of promise. Hopefully yesterday doesn't ruin him and he disappears like Oxford, there's plenty to be excited about with this guy

Well said. It's very unfortunate, but a test of character. I felt ever since pre-season that using him was a message to the board to bring in a certain DM.

[ryanrc]

Think it's being harsh on him to haul him off. He was given a **** ball in a **** position and no support. Plenty of opportunity for us to recover too. The whole team was **** for that goal.

[bubbles1966]

Lost his footing momentarily before he received the ball for the goal yesterday.

Made 7 blocks, tackles, headers, interceptions etc first half - 93% pass accuracy. Not bad at all.

Bit unfortunate, overall.

[carnage]

Could be our Eric Dier.

[the pink palermo]

Lost his footing momentarily before he received the ball for the goal yesterday.

Made 7 blocks, tackles, headers, interceptions etc first half - 93% pass accuracy. Not bad at all.

Bit unfortunate, overall.

Poor management to hook him at half time, unless it was pre planned and advised in advance .

[ryanrc]

Okay it didn't work out for him (his young and these mistakes will happen) but I love the way he reads the game and busted a gut to get back and almost recover with a challenge on Joselu. He's been one of the very few positives this season

[Skandi Brudson]

Very disappointed to see him subbed at half time. I thought Fernandes was playing worse and could have made way. As someone else has said, he was the one who very nearly prevented the goal ultimately.

[Danny's Dyer Acting]

Why is the assumption that he was taken off purely due to the mistake? Billic has form for chasing the game with substitutions that weaken the shape of the team and maybe he saw the temptation of getting Lanzini on ASAP as too much to resist?

People seem keen for the sky to be falling in as quickly as possible right now.

[Skandi Brudson]

Lanzini could have come on for Fernandes who was anonymous in the first half

[JerseyHammer]

Think it's being harsh on him to haul him off. He was given a **** ball in a **** position and no support. Plenty of opportunity for us to recover too. The whole team was **** for that goal.

Have to say, that was my first reaction too.

9 times out of 10 that wouldn't have led to a goal.

[The Gibbins]

I like Declan Rice and i think its great he is versatile to an extent, but he is no midfielder. The first goal was down to a lack of experience, and I'm sure if he was playing centre back he would be lumping that ball upfield out of danger. I noticed yesterday however that everyone was so far from one another, we really are one of the worst teams in possession and part of it is because there's no support within 10 yards, everything is so forced and when we play a hopeful pass forward its lost more times than not. Don't get me wrong, Rice made a mistake for the first goal but he gets his heads up, he's looking, he's looking, and the team are just static in the middle of the park and then he gets closed down.

Feel sorry for the lad getting hauled off at half time. It's easy to say in hindsight but he is no midfielder and for him to be on the pitch rather than Obiang was just baffling..

[Sir_Trevor]

Think it's being harsh on him to haul him off. He was given a **** ball in a **** position and no support. Plenty of opportunity for us to recover too. The whole team was **** for that goal.

Have to say, that was my first reaction too.

9 times out of 10 that wouldn't have led to a goal.

Totally agree with this. If you watch the highlights, you can see that his foot gives way as the ball comes to him, which puts him off balance. Then, as I've mentioned in a couple of other threads, if you watch Ogbonna, he is standing in front of Ritchie (who nicked the ball from Rice) about 15 yards outside the box, but, by the time the ball reaches Atsu in the box for the pull back, Oggy has not moved from that spot. (He has just turned around watching the move unfolding).

I was shocked when watching to see that it was Rice who was the one diving in in the box to try to block it. Had Oggy made the same effort, he probably could have been goal side of Joselu to make the block.

Surely, the first instinct for any defender must be to get back and protect your goal?

As for the subbing of Rice, I agree with others that it was poor man management to take him off at half time because it undermines his confidence, but even more so because I thought that he was playing quite well and definitely more involved than the anonymous Fernandes. (And that's not a dig at him but he has been out of sorts so far this season).

[Cellar-door]

I know he made that mistake for the 1st goal but I thought it was a touch of class at the end coming over and holding his hands up and certainly doesn't deserve, I think any criticism. He's played 4 games in his professional career and so far shown plenty of promise. Hopefully yesterday doesn't ruin him and he disappears like Oxford, there's plenty to be excited about with this guy

Hopefully, he's shown a lot of promise, but he's not been put in a position to succeed by the manager. He's still a CB, and putting him out there in midfield in any situation other than totally parking the bus is just setting him up to fail. It's both outside his skill set, and his comfort zone. Hopefully when the new manager comes in he'll go back to being cover for the CBs, or go out on loan to a good opportunity to play consistently in the Championship.

[JerseyHammer]

Sir_Trevor I totally agree. I'd have been more inclined to run over and give Ogbonna a b****king if I were Hart.

[sendô]

Seemed harsh on the lad, he's looked decent overall and one of our better players so far this season. It's probably a good thing for him to make a mistake like that early on in his career - learn from it and increase concentration. He was unlucky to slip when he did.