David Moyes says Declan Rice could ‘play for any club’ after ‘dominant’ display against Liverpool

The praise for his player came after West Ham narrowly lost to Liverpool

West Ham manager David Moyes heaped praise on his player Declan Rice, saying he could play for “any club”, despite their 1-0 loss to Liverpool.

Rice was named man of the match at Anfield as England manager Gareth Southgate watched on and Moyes was effusive in his praise.

“If you didn’t see it, he was the best player on the pitch – by a mile,” said Moyes.

“A top player. He could play for any club, he’s that good – and I mean it. He was back to his best; for long periods he was fantastic, big parts of the play in how he dominated.

“He took the ball and he drove past people. It’s (a significant step on where he has been). That’s him getting back to his levels. For those who don’t see us that often, last season he played that way in every game just about. He was so good. I thought he was a standout, certainly as the game went on.”

The rest of the Hammers team played well and it was thanks to heroics from the Liverpool defence and goalkeeper Alisson that kept them out.

Moyes was sad his team didn’t bag any points but he was proud of his players.

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t come away with something when we had the opportunity to do so,” the boss added. “The last few times I have been here, I have been saying the same things but we just haven’t had the chance to change it.

“We didn’t start off particularly well but we improved. We gave the ball away numerous times in the opening 20 minutes and against Liverpool that is not a good thing to do.

“We stuck at it and eventually clawed our way back into the game. If we keep playing like that, we’ll get a lot of points.”