Rice by Matt & Tom Oldfield

Author:Matt & Tom Oldfield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Templar

CHAPTER 15

LEARNING FROM

CLUB LEGENDS

The Premier League action came fast and furious – but Declan was willing to do whatever it took to survive. So far, he felt he had handled the step up in quality pretty well, but there was still so much to learn, even though he had been playing football all his life. At this level, it was just different. There was no other way to say it.

Luckily for Declan, he had Mark Noble in his corner.

‘I’ve seen it all at West Ham over the years,’ Mark explained. ‘Plenty of talented young players have come through the youth ranks, and you’re as good as any of them. Now it becomes about the mental side of the game as much as what you can do with the ball at your feet.’

‘How do you mean?’ Declan asked.

‘Well, being a Premier League footballer brings a lot of pressure but also a lot of fame and money. The challenge is to keep football as your number one priority, even as your life changes. That sounds simple, but I’ve seen some fantastic players lose their way.’

Declan nodded. It made sense. He was already starting to hear about the perks that came with Premier League status.

‘Just make sure you never lose the desire to keep improving,’ Mark continued. ‘The coaches here will push you, but you’ve got to be coachable and have your own drive to get better every day.’

Declan felt like he soaked up so much knowledge every time he played next to Mark in central midfield, even just on the training ground. He had often thought that he was a pretty vocal player – calling for the ball, shouting encouragement or instructions – but seeing Mark in action was a whole new level. The talking was constant, telling Declan who he was marking and who he should stay close to, calling out when to switch their marking assignments, where the easiest next pass was, and when not to get fancy under pressure.

His path to regular first-team action was made trickier by some of the changes around him at West Ham. Early in the 2017–18 season, Slaven was out and David Moyes was in. Then David left that summer, with Manuel Pellegrini taking over. Each time that Declan felt he had proven himself, a new manager arrived.

While Declan was enjoying playing in midfield, the West Ham coaches also saw him as a solid centre back. Building on everything that he had learned from JT, he continued to push himself to get better in the air, stronger in the tackle and sharper at reading dangerous attacks. To help with that, he spent a lot of time with Matt Upson, another Premier League defender that Declan had watched for years who was now doing his coaching courses.

Part of the development process was analysing each game and going back through the footage – ‘film study’ as some of the coaches called it.

‘Look at your positioning here,’ Matt said, pausing the video clip and pointing. ‘You’re in

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