Let’s be honest, many of us feared the prospect of a West Ham team without Declan Rice. Not only was Declan our captain, but he was a player who could seemingly do everything.
The team relied on him for game saving tackles, rampaging runs and by the end even game winning goals. That’s a lot of midfielder to replace, yet West Ham have seemingly managed to do it.
Better without Rice? West Ham have spent the transfer fee from Arsenal wisely.
Gaffer David Moyes was at pains to point out that replacing Rice could not be done with one player. On numerous occasion’s, he told the press it would take ‘two or three’ to mitigate the loss of our former captain.
Moyes was right. In James Ward Prowse and Edson Alvarez, The Hammers have found two players who are greater than the sum of their parts. JWP’s goals and assist output has been unexpectedly exceptional. Whilst Mexican Alvarez’s defensive abilities already look formidable.
Impressed with Rice replacements
One Hammers player who get’s to witness these news signings at close quarters is Emerson. The West Ham left back has been hugely impressed with what he’s seen thus far.
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, even having won the Conference League,” the left back explained. “We knew we had to work hard to do a better Premier League season this year. Last season left a lot to be desired considering the quality in the team in terms of international players, players who are very important to their country’s national team, players with lots of experience.
“We’ve been working really hard. Even with Dec’s exit, we’ve brought in players like Ward-Prowse, Edson, MoKudus, so we’ve really strengthened the team and we have that mentality of starting the season strong. I’m pleased with this season’s start. We need to continue with that desire.”
