Declan Rice likes to call it \u201cclean feedback\u201d, which sounds like a euphemism for a bollocking, though he would probably say that is a misconception. Rather, it is part of the reason why Rice is being discussed as one of the best players in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t eff and blind, you can\u2019t bully people,\u201d says Terry Westley, the head of West Ham\u2019s academy when Rice was there. \u201cBut we should be able to have a conversation and say: \u2018Look, that ain\u2019t quite good enough and we want to help you because this is what we need to do.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cEither they walk out your office and go: \u2018Fucking bloke, don\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about. I\u2019m going to tell my dad or my agent.\u2019 Or you walk out the office and go: \u2018Right, what do I need to do? Let\u2019s get on with the work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It is fairly clear which camp Rice fell into. One Champions League-winning coach recently privately described him as \u201cthe best midfielder in the world\u201d, which even when he was a \u00a3105m signing for Arsenal<\/a> two years ago seemed a stretch. To longtime observers, his rise has occurred gradually and then all at once, encapsulated in an astonishing performance against Real Madrid<\/a> in April when he scored two brilliant goals from free-kicks in a 3-0 win.<\/p>\n Declan Rice training at West Ham in August 2018. Photograph: Arfa Griffiths\/WHUFC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n If you consider his backstory of rejection and the need to give that clean feedback, it is barely credible Rice should be discussed in the terms he is today. Chelsea ditched him at 14, which is beginning to bear comparison with Decca Records rejecting the Beatles. But even as a 16-year-old at West Ham coaches were divided over whether to offer Rice a scholarship, the pathway to the first team.<\/p>\n By his own admission, Rice had an odd, uncoordinated running style, which is further evidence of his extraordinary development. A Premier League manager describes him as being \u201clike a Rolls-Royce, so graceful in his actions and movements\u201d.<\/p>\n Westley recalls the debate over the gangly teenager and whether he would make the cut. \u201cThere were people who weren\u2019t as forthright as I was,\u201d he says about the decision over offering a scholarship. \u201cThere was no guaranteed pro contract for Declan, but there was no moaning from him. The scholarship came after a game at Fulham when I put him in the under-18 team. I said: \u2018You don\u2019t need to be panicking any more. We\u2019re going to give you the scholarship.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cDeclan gave a talk for me last year [to young footballers] and he said: \u2018I look back now and I think having had clean feedback [back then], I can\u2019t now accept anything else.\u2019 I told him: \u2018That\u2019s really\u00a0powerful.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cHe said that we didn\u2019t pussyfoot around. [But] you can\u2019t give many people clean feedback any more. [You\u2019re] tiptoeing around. Agents don\u2019t tell their players clean feedback because they\u2019re scared of losing them. Very rarely do I come across a parent who\u2019s going to tell them the truth. They don\u2019t want to hear it either.\u201d<\/p>\n Declan Rice signs a new contract at West Ham with Terry Westley (left) and the manager Slaven Bilic in 2017. Photograph: Arfa Griffiths\/WHUFC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Neither Westley, nor Tony Carr, who rescued Rice from Chelsea at 14 on the recommendation of his scout Dave Hunt, could have predicted this ugly duckling would blossom into quite as elegant a\u00a0swan.<\/p>\n Carr says: \u201cDave said: \u2018We should take a look at this kid Chelsea have released. I think he\u2019s got a bit more to him,\u2019\u201d a line, 12 years on, that reads like one of the more understated and prescient judgments in recent football history.<\/p>\n Slaven Bilic, who gave Rice his West Ham debut, is characteristically blunt. \u201cWe thought he might one day turn out to be West Ham captain as a centre-back, a John Terry type, because he was reliable and had determination. But let\u2019s not bullshit. Did he look like he would go on to be one of the best midfielders in the Premier League? No, I can\u2019t lie.\u201d<\/p>\n Carr brought Rice into West Ham, initially on trial, which meant the teenager had to leave his family home in Kingston, south-west London. He moved into West Ham\u2019s version of Hogwarts, two big Georgian houses joined together in Chadwell Heath, near the old training ground, where academy players live together.<\/p>\n His willingness to embrace the change was notable. \u201cHe was very bright, very confident,\u201d Carr says. \u201cAlthough he was probably nervous, he wanted the ball all the time. He listened and he was a very quick learner.\u201d<\/p>\n Declan Rice\u2019s set-piece ability has drawn praise from his England teammate, Jordan Pickford. Photograph: Alex Pantling\/FA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The quick-learning component to Rice has been evident in embracing his set- piece role, which puts him at the heart of the latest tactical trend in football and makes him even more important for Arsenal<\/a> and England.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has got one of the most powerful whips I have ever seen,\u201d said his England teammate Jordan Pickford. As Rice has said, it is a skill he may have overlooked were it not for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal\u2019s set-piece coach, Nicolas Jover<\/a>, encouraging him to embrace it during a midwinter trip to Dubai in\u00a02024.<\/p>\n Then there is the switch from the cautious, defensive No 6 to the marauding No 8. The criticism midfield greats such as Graeme Souness and Roy Keane made about him at the time of his \u00a3105m move \u2013 that he didn\u2019t score enough goals \u2013 is said to have registered with him.<\/p>\n Just as when Chelsea rejected him, confidants say he did not brood on it, but looked for ways to improve that part of his game.<\/p>\n Declan Rice has progressed from rejection by Chelsea to being a vital part of Thomas Tuchel\u2019s World Cup hopes with England. Photograph: Alex Pantling\/FA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve done some work on champions in different sports and [the common thread is] that when you give someone information, they\u2019re hungry for it, they\u2019re thirsty for more,\u201d says Westley. \u201cThey thrive on wanting to do something different; they don\u2019t sneer. He falls in that bracket. \u2018What can I learn now? What do I need to do? How can I do that?\u2019 He was like that when he left Chelsea and joined\u00a0us.\u201d<\/p>\n