Declan Rice blogs for whufc.com following the US Tour
Hello everyone,
If you had told me a couple of weeks ago that I would have travelled with the first-team squad on their pre-season US Tour and played in both matches, I would have been very surprised.
It’s definitely been an amazing experience to come out with the first team to America for nearly two weeks.
Seattle and North Carolina were fantastic places to train and play and I’ve learnt a lot from all of the players I’ve trained alongside and from playing in the games themselves.
I was shocked when I was told I was coming out to the US. I was sitting with my Mum and Dad when we got a call and literally I had two days to prepare and get ready.
We got straight into things, training on the first day on arrival in Seattle, but it’s been a great experience.
I’ve played in both games and I thought I did well. I felt confident because you can’t go into those games with any fear.
The likes of Mark Noble and Winston Reid really helped me on the field and it was good to get 45 minutes in the first game and half-an-hour in the second.
When you come away with the first team, you can’t be acting like a child any more. You have to act your age and be more mature about things.
I am still young and relatively inexperienced, but if I keep training and playing well, there is no reason to think that I can’t show that the Club doesn’t need to go out and spend money on a new centre-half. We’ll see what the future brings.
I have trained alongside Reece Burke in the US and I think I could benefit a lot from a loan deal like the one he had at Bradford City last season, where he did really well and won the Player of the Year award.
I think I need a year with the Development Squad first, though, and see how that goes. Then, hopefully I’ll get a good loan move.
The best thing about the Tour has been just being around the senior players, really. The training, the facilities and the sessions and games have been really good.
The manager has spoken to me and he said he was pleased with the way I played, that I looked composed and he hopes I will take that with me going forward.
I am a West Ham fan and the new Stadium is going to keep attracting top players to our Club and getting big-name opponents like Juventus, who we face on 7 August, to play against us.
I just want to be in and around the squad for those matches!
Declan
Hello everyone,
If you had told me a couple of weeks ago that I would have travelled with the first-team squad on their pre-season US Tour and played in both matches, I would have been very surprised.
It’s definitely been an amazing experience to come out with the first team to America for nearly two weeks.
Seattle and North Carolina were fantastic places to train and play and I’ve learnt a lot from all of the players I’ve trained alongside and from playing in the games themselves.
I was shocked when I was told I was coming out to the US. I was sitting with my Mum and Dad when we got a call and literally I had two days to prepare and get ready.
We got straight into things, training on the first day on arrival in Seattle, but it’s been a great experience.
I’ve played in both games and I thought I did well. I felt confident because you can’t go into those games with any fear.
The likes of Mark Noble and Winston Reid really helped me on the field and it was good to get 45 minutes in the first game and half-an-hour in the second.
When you come away with the first team, you can’t be acting like a child any more. You have to act your age and be more mature about things.
I am still young and relatively inexperienced, but if I keep training and playing well, there is no reason to think that I can’t show that the Club doesn’t need to go out and spend money on a new centre-half. We’ll see what the future brings.
I have trained alongside Reece Burke in the US and I think I could benefit a lot from a loan deal like the one he had at Bradford City last season, where he did really well and won the Player of the Year award.
I think I need a year with the Development Squad first, though, and see how that goes. Then, hopefully I’ll get a good loan move.
The best thing about the Tour has been just being around the senior players, really. The training, the facilities and the sessions and games have been really good.
The manager has spoken to me and he said he was pleased with the way I played, that I looked composed and he hopes I will take that with me going forward.
I am a West Ham fan and the new Stadium is going to keep attracting top players to our Club and getting big-name opponents like Juventus, who we face on 7 August, to play against us.
I just want to be in and around the squad for those matches!
Declan