Steven Gerrard has revealed how Aston Villa tried to nullify the threat of Declan Rice during the clash with West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Villa manager recognised the threat of Rice and his midfield partner Tomas Soucek but was unable to seize control of the centre of the park from the West Ham pair.
It was Rice's driving run beyond John McGinn that was the catalyst for Pablo Fornals' winner. The England midfielder robbed Leon Bailey of possession before carrying the ball 40 yards up the pitch and laying it off to Said Benrahma who squared for Fornals to finish.
Gerrard admitted that from the start against West Ham his aim was to stop Rice and Soucek controlling the play but added that he was struck by the quality of Rice's display.
"The game plan from the beginning was to try and get around their two midfielders to stop them switching the play and dictating a lot of what West Ham were trying to do. Second half was the same advice and Ollie was closer to (Rice). That's what we tried to do. Listen, [Rice] put in a strong performance and I was impressed by him," Gerrard said.
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"We take nothing away, it was a game on moments rather than being out-classed or there wasn't a huge gap, I didn't think, between the two teams. Where we're at and where we're trying to get to, that's a positive but there's still a lot of learning and improving from our point of view. Today's game gives me something different to think about having seen West Ham, in terms of what we needed to do moving forward as well."
Gerrard was asked if one day he would like to manage England to which the former Three Lions captain responded jokingly: "Well look I’m not looking too far ahead, but I hope Declan Rice is available if that day comes."
The Villa manager was not only impressed with Rice but the way West Ham set up defensively and denied his side any clear cut chances on goal: "I thought in our build-up we were good today," Gerrard added. "It was a combination of us lacking a bit of creativity in the final third but also West Ham being really strong in that department, defensively strong and organised. It's probably a combination of both why we haven't got anything from today."
