Rice and Arnie get closer and closer

Declan Rice has started his new West Ham era in precisely the same style as he finished the last – performing with style and, for us, leading the way as Hammer of the Year.

There are several contenders – Fabianski, Arnie of course and Diop among them – but so far this term Declan has been quite outstanding and probably leads the way.

He has many people to thank but right now it seems that he is being inspired by a certain Austrian to whim he has grown very close.

He revealed in the past that he has a lift to training from him and that they had grown close but it seems he sees him even more than that these days – like “a big brother.”

The atmosphere at the club under which he has prospered so brilliantly is  another major factor but his arrival at first team level has seen him get closer and closer to the Austrian.

He told www.whufc.com: “Arnie is massive for West Ham. He gives us a boost on the pitch, to know we’ve got someone of his stature and his quality, and he can get us a goal at any time. Fair play to him because he held the defenders off well and got two good finishes. 

“He’s top. I get on so well with him. He’s like an older brother and he’s always trying to give me advice. He’s like another captain really; he’s always egging on the team to do better and to do well.”

He was eqally thrilled with Mark Noble’s performance against Brighton saying: “”Noble changed the game really. He wouldn’t have been too happy to not start the game, but you could feel the energy when he came on. 

“It’s always good playing with Nobes. He’s always looking to give you the ball. He’s always looking up, trying to play to you, play forward, and his pass for Arnie’s first was really good.” 

Of Brighton he said: “To be fair  they are very well prepared defensively and we struggled to break them down. We came out fighting in the second half. We went close twice and our confidence was growing, and you could see that in the team. Then we conceded one, and then two minutes later we conceded another. 

“Luckily enough Arnie managed to get two for us. The spirit is massive and we’ve got top quality players starting and coming off the bench. We’ve just got to keep going and we need to start a bit quicker in games. We need three points at the end of the day. A point is good but it’s not enough.”