Angelo Ogbonna has reminded manager David Moyes of Declan Rice’s virtues following the manager’s dressing down of the young man.
Speaking to the official site Dec’s fellow central defender said: “Dec has played for a long time this season and every time he’s played well. He’s a confident boy, and it’s just a misunderstanding and I’m sorry for him.
“We played well, we went to Arsenal and for 80 minutes we showed ourselves well. A four-one defeat was a bit unfair. But we are positive and focused on the next game.”
He added: “We have improved a lot. We took five points from the three games before this one and we were confident with the ball on Sunday and we maintained the tempo.
“What we have to learn about is not switching off when we concede a goal, because in football you can make a mistake – that’s football – but we have to be tough enough to get back, like we did at 1-0, but not after 2-1.
“We are always confident and we are focused on our goal. Our goal is to be safe, so we are still lucky that we are six points above [the relegation zone], but we cannot relax. We have to be focused.”
I think moyes thought his slating of Rice would get a positive reaction further down the line from the young defender,but instead this story has taken on a life of its own.Fact is with the exception of Rice,Arnoutovic,Obbonna perhaps Noble and Zaba you could haul the whole squad over the coals for under achieving all season and leaving the team fighting another relegation battle.When you look at the players we have including so many experienced internationals compared with say Burnley and where we are in comparison it does not take a genius to realise there are problems that need addressing big style in the Summer.As stated earlier i am not sure if the majority of fans think Moyes is the answer long term.
There you have it…. “It was a misunderstanding”. So either the players were told something in prep of the match that Rice did not grasp correctly, or something was shouted to him and he did not hear it well or understand it correctly. We will never know who shouted what, but it seems that is the explanation. Are more experienced player would have headed the ball away, regardless of what was said by anyone else. Or Hart could have come out to grab that cross…
Hart grab that cross dunlopilo? Now that’s funny mate! The day I see Hart grab a cross or actually do what a keeper should do and not just stay on his line for corners and actually come out and hold the ball not punch either then I can say we have a good keeper at last. Unlikely with him and a few others which is a shame as England doesn’t really have a keeper that gives confidence in the world cup later. Anyway correctly oggy says that rice has been superb and of course even himself has made mistakes but you can be sure this confident nineteen year old won’t let it be happening again and will be ready for next game although I have a sneaky feeling moyes will play ginge instead of rice which as a safety first coach just about makes me think we need someone else this summer that will put our club on a forward thinking agenda next season personally like jokanovic and his c.v is very good. A new board would also be very welcome with so many wanting a premier club in London to invest in and one that actually spends on players that are not loans or cheap over the hill has been.
Agree completely, Hart will NOT go for a high ball even if it is in his area. In fact, most keepers don’t come out anymore, not on high balls, not on 1 v. 1 challenges. I miss goalkeepers like Pfaff, who would really command and dominate their area. I played goalkeeper at amateur level, and the coaches and defenders used to say “anything coming into the box is yours.” Not true anymore. Even Courtois who is tall stays too often scotched to his line…
As to the manager, yes, we do need someone with more intrepid ideas and philosophy. If not, we will keep on losing our valuable players (Lanzini, Hernandez and… Rice)
Agree Razor regarding going for crosses. Even more so following watching the recording of Cup game yesterday. AgGraham Poll reveals ‘Any touching of the keeper in the goal area is a foul’. What? So how can you challenge in the box is going to be a foul. This is one of those little directives the refs have dreamt up between them to make their job easier. I am pretty sure it is not in the laws of the game. So why not go for the ball at corners. Anybody challenging you has no chance.