Nobody put in a bigger shift than Declan Rice last night as the midfielder’s sensational form goes from greater to greater.
Given that he was hauled off in the first game against Liverpool at Anfield it shows that he does learning curves like no other young player we have seen in the claret and blue.
And despite his past objections to comparisons with Bobby Moore, there were moments last night when they were unavoidable as he strode out of defensive mould with all the confidence in the world.
One in particular so him imperiously breaking up a Liverpool attack and striding forward to put Michail Antonio in. It was an astonishing moment for those who recall the Hammers legend in his prime.
But like the main man Declan is always determined not to any personal glory and instead gave the whole team credit for a performance which was above anything any of us could have dreamed of after AFC Wimbledon and Wolves.
He told www.whufc.com: Without a doubt, we were excellent. We missed some great chances, me included, and I was gutted with that, but I think you saw, to a man, we knew the shape, we worked hard, we got the point and it could have been all three.
“I think you saw us walking off the pitch, we were knackered, but that was the hard work we put in and the hard work we put in on the training field since the Wolves defeat.
We were disappointed not to pick up three points but we look forward to Palace now and we’ll try to go and pick up something there.
“The spirit is flying now and we need to push. Palace is going to be a tough place to go but we’re confident.”
For Rice, his assured display was redemption on a personal level too for the Anfield experience.
He said: That was the main thing. At the start of the season, when I was playing holding midfield, I wasn’t vacating my space, I wasn’t defending properly, I was running out of the middle and letting them play.
“I think you could see that Firmino and Salah were frustrated because they couldn’t go through the middle. They kept going wide and they obviously haven’t got a target man to play up to, so we frustrated their game plan and we got out with a point.”
And of Michail Antonio he added: “Mick was outstanding. Some of the stuff he was doing, like bringing down Lukasz’s goal kicks and switching the play… When Mick is confident, he is unplayable and you saw that and I’m delighted for him.”
“Against the top six, we’ve been really hard to play against when they’ve come here. We’ve got to build on that. We’ve got a great squad and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be pushing for seventh.
“That’s got to be the target between now and the end of the season.”