David Moyes hails Arsenal star as ‘best in the world’ after Everton defeat | Football
David Moyes hailed Declan Rice as “probably the best midfielder in the world” following Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Everton on Saturday night.
Viktor Gyokeres’ first-half penalty sealed victory for Mikel Arteta’s side, who restored their two-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
Rice, meanwhile, delivered another impressive performance at the heart of Arsenal’s midfield and Moyes, who managed the 26-year-old at West Ham, thanked Arteta for developing his former captain.
“I thought Tim (Iroegbunam) played really well, he was probably going up against the best midfielder in the world in some ways and he did a really good job,” Moyes said.
“He stuck to it, we wanted him to do a lot of other things, we wanted him to pass forward more, we wanted him to be a little bit more creative in his game at times, but the other side of his game he did really well.
“By the way, the players… it had nothing to do with (the lack of effort), they were fantastic in the way they got the job done, even more so in the second half where we had to chase harder and find a way, that meant we opened up a little bit more, we just couldn’t score a scrappy goal or someone scoring a Willie goal in the World Cup, we just couldn’t score one.”
Speaking further about Rice, Moyes added: “Look, Declan has developed, it’s not because of me, Declan has always been a great player.
“Mikel made him a real, real top player. But he’s a great boy more than anything, he’s a great boy, and because of that it will give him a great chance, a great player too, a lot of top assets.
Arteta was also full of praise for Rice’s performance against Everton.
“Unbelievable,” Arteta said.
“His all-around game, his leadership on the field, the number of balls he recovered, and that allowed us to run.
“He’s been incredibly consistent again this year, and yeah, what a huge player for us he is.”
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