If Declan Rice leads West Ham United out to face RSC Anderlecht at Lotto Park on Thursday evening, he will be playing his 60th match in the last calendar year.
The 23-year-old is regularly praised for his superhuman performances on the pitch for Club and country, but the facts bear out that he really is fitter and stronger than the vast majority of footballers.
Those 60 games have all been played at an ultra-competitive level – 37 in the Premier League, eight in the UEFA Europa League, eight for England, five in the domestic cup competitions and two in the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) – and put big demands on Rice, both physically and mentally.
It says everything about West Ham’s outstanding No41 that he has met those physical and mental demands to help the Hammers reach a Europa League semi-final and qualify for Europe through their league position for the second straight season, and help England secure their place at the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar.
Since returning to action after the COVID-enforced break in the summer of 2020, Rice has had next to no time to recharge his batteries, such are the demands placed on international footballers in the modern game. Since September 2020, just over two years ago, he has played 122 times for West Ham and England.
Game 123 will likely come on Thursday evening, when the Irons can take a giant step towards a place in the UECL round of 16 by overcoming Anderlecht, the record 34-times champions, in Brussels.
As he always does, Rice has prepared meticulously for the challenge his opponents will pose, and is looking forward to giving 100 per cent for himself, his team and the Claret and Blue Army…
Dec, you captained West Ham in Europe last season and you’re doing so again this, so how does that make you feel?
“It’s an absolute honour. Obviously, last year Nobes was Club captain and I was the on-field captain, in a way, but this year I’ve got full responsibility and to be back in Europe is key again for the lads and for the Club. It’s a real honour.”
How have you found the start to the season on a personal note, bearing in mind your extra responsibility?
“Yeah, obviously, I think I'm always going to be picked out as one if I’m not having a good game, because I've set the bar so high for myself. I think it took me a couple of games to get going. I feel like I'm starting to find my form again. Obviously, we had so many games last season and we have so many games now leading up to the World Cup, so I need to I need to pace myself in a way so yI'm not going to get injured or I'm not going to break down. But I'm feeling really good. Me and manager have a great relationship, and I'm ready to play and give 100% every time I pull on the shirt.”
You were one of the England players who managed to maintain your form, despite playing in the Euros in the summer of 2021?
“I worked out last year, from June to June, I played 68 games in a year, so that's an obscene amount of games. You've got to stay fit, you've got to eat the right things and your nutrition has to be good, you have to be spot on throughout the whole year. Of course, at some point it might take its toll but then it's down to you as the player to find that balance and to get back on track, and I feel like I'm starting to do that again now. I’m starting to feel good again feel sharp, so hopefully I can keep keep pushing, and as a team now we can keep kicking on in the league and in Europe as well.”
Does the World Cup only being six or seven weeks ago have any bearing on how you approach games at the moment?
“I didn't mean I pace myself as in going into games not 100%. Every game I go into, I walk off and I'm calm knackered! I mean, in the fact that obviously there's big games for West Ham and big games for England, and I don't want to get injured or do anything silly. Of course, there's a big World Cup coming up, but at the moment the focus is West Ham because we haven’t had the greatest of starts in the league ad we don't want to be where we are in the table. We want to be back up in the European spots and pushing up that end of the table.”
What is the secret of you playing so many games?
“I don’t know, really! Some people have bad luck with injuries, and sometimes it’s a luck thing whether you get injured but I try to keep myself as fit and healthy as possible away from the pitch and try to do everything right. You only get one career and I want to maximise that and play as many games as I can. When you hit that amount of games, it’s a proud moment and shows the hard work you’ve put in.”
Don’t you ever want to be rested?
“I don’t want to rest at all. When we played at Silkeborg I told the manager ‘I want to play in that game’. I want to play in every game, even though we’ve got a bigger squad now and competition for places, every time there is a chance to play for West Ham and captain this Club is a great opportunity. I want to play in every game I’m available for.”
Talking of competition for places, do you feel all the new arrivals have settled into the squad now and are ready to play?
“Yeah, I feel like you can see that. There were signs of that against Wolves. There's still room for improvement, for sure, but I feel like we've been unlucky this season in some ways. I know the manager mentioned it last week, but we've hit the woodwork so much, we've created chances and not put them in the back of the net. Those little split-second decisions that haven't gone our way when last season they were going our way. I felt like our luck at the start of the season, nothing was dropping for us, but now we're all gelling together. We had a few injuries at the start and a few illnesses, but we’ve got a full squad and now we're really trying to push on because of the quality of players we've got.”
Dec, you’re already at a very high level, so how much more improvement do you have in you?
“There’s so much I can do. The best players in the world are still trying to improve. I want to do more in possession, on the ball, and take the game by the scruff of the neck more because I know I’ve got it in me. There were games last season when I felt it out on the pitch and in my head I said ‘I’m going to take this game by the scruff of the neck, so give me the ball and I’ll show you what I can do’. I know I can do that more. There is a lot of talk about me scoring goals and if I can protect the team defensively and add goals to my game, that’s one of the things I’d like to do and I’m really trying to do that, but when we’ve got such a goal threat in Tomáš Souček, I like to let him push on more.”
Finally, you face Anderlecht on Thursday, so what are you expecting from that game?
“They’re obviously a top European club. We knew it would be a tough game when we got drawn together. We obviously know some of their players like Jan Vertonghen. Josh Cullen used to be here at West Ham and he had great things to say about his experience at this club. We know it’s going to be a good atmosphere and a good game and we’re looking forward to the game and we want to win and push forward in the group.”
