David Moyes has branded Declan Rice a "future England captain" in the aftermath of stinging criticism from Roy Keane.
Keane was heavily critical of Rice after West Ham United's 3-1 defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday night. Appearing as a pundit on ITV, the Irishman took aim at Rice and questioned whether he was a good enough creative force to command the high fee that West Ham reportedly want for their prized soon-to-be out-of-contract asset this Summer.
Gary Neville agreed with Keane's assessment that Rice needs to "do more", telling Sky Sports that although he "loves" Rice, he believes the Englishman needs to improve the attacking side of his game.
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West Ham manager Moyes however disagrees with Keane's statement, and ahead of Saturday's crunch game with high-flying Brighton, the Scot has heaped praise upon the defensive midfielder.
“I think Declan [Rice] has played really well for us,” said Moyes. “For a young player to have what 40 England caps at his age. No doubt he is going to go on and be an England captain in the future, or I think so.
“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. I think he’s played really, really well and I think he’s going to go on and be a top player. Hopefully, that will be with West Ham, that would be our choice. We would like it to be here. I believe he will go on to be a really good player.
“What I will say is Roy Keane was probably the best midfield player of his generation and he can certainly spot a good player because he played that position incredibly well over many, many years.”
It's been a disappointing season for Rice and West Ham as they find themselves in a relegation dogfight off the back of two consecutive top-seven Premier League finishes in 2021 and 2022.
Heading into Saturday's game, the Irons find themselves languishing in 16th place and are just two points outside the relegation zone.
While last week's 4-0 over Nottingham Forest boosted the Hammers survival chances, Wednesday's "flaky" second-half showing irritated Moyes, and he will be hoping for a better display on Saturday.
"I used to use the word flaky here at West Ham, I've got rid of it in the last few years but we certainly were for the last 15 minutes," Moyes said.
"It's no point being that, coming and turning up only to do that at the end."
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