Lukasz Fabianski is thrilled with the manner in which Declan Rice has taken on the captain’s role in Mark Noble’s recent absence.
There was often a belief that taking the armband at a young age could affect a player’s performance. In Declan’s case it has – if anything it’s improved his.
For those of us who have been so closely involved in the 21 year’s development it often seems that it was only yesterday that we watched him finding his way under Slaven and Pellegrini.
He was so often referred to as the new Bobby Moore that those doing so were accused of piling too much pressure on young shoulders.
But he remained unaffected then and clearly is again as he leads a team, which was in a lot of trouble, into games that have seen a new attitude and performance appear under critical circumstances.
If anything he appears to thrive on pressure and responsibility and in doing so Fab is immensely impressed.
Speaking at https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2020/july/08-july/lukasz-fabianski-lockdown-training-staying-focused-and-declan-rice he said: “I think he has grown massively. What helped him as well in recent weeks is that the manager gave him the armband and that gives you more responsibility out on the pitch.
“You become more vocal out there and by that you create this aura of being more respected by the players because they look at you as the captain.
“He took this challenge on himself really well. He has always been delivering week-in, week-out, but you can see even more in this difficult moment, he’s really putting in great performances and I hope he can continue to do this for the rest of this season.
“He’s not afraid of the challenge. He’s making really good decisions with and without the ball. Sometimes he is covering positions he shouldn’t be for the sake of the team, for the points, so he knows what it takes to get a result and that’s something big players have.”
