Declan Rice
Declan Rice has said being able to learn from criticism and coming up against top-class opposition has enabled him and West Ham to continue their growth and maintain a push for European football next season.
Declan Rice said: “I feel like we can achieve good things. We want the Champions League, that’s what everybody wants. I feel like top six is more of a bigger aim for us. We’ve gone for everything. We’ve rotated the squad as much as we can. There are so many positives to take and if we really look towards the European games coming up, when we’ll probably play a big side, I feel like we can really go far. We’re fifth in the league at the moment, we’re flying, and we’re into the knock-out rounds of the Europa League. There are lots of positives and every time we play at home, we can feel that presence from the fans. We love playing in front of them. There are no limits to what we can do. We just need to stick together, keep doing what we do best and see where the season takes us.”
Rice has put the Hammers’ sustained success and improvements down to the squad’s ability to learn from mistakes and use them as motivation to build upon.
Declan Rice said: “That’s a part of why we’re doing so well as a team. We can take criticism. If you can’t give it out and take it you’re not going to learn. Even me, I like to be told because it keeps you on your toes. The biggest thing I’m doing is learning in-game. Against top opposition and top players I’m always learning and looking at how they play, seeing what they do. I always watch my clips back, looking at what I can improve, speaking to the assistants, speaking to the manager. On the training pitch, I’m just trying to improve, to test myself against the players in training and trying different things. Just chipping away at a load of stuff, that’s the best way you can get 100 per cent out of yourself.”
