Moyes reveals Rice frustrations before goal in West Ham win

‘Too much praise makes you soft’: David Moyes says he won’t give Declan Rice ‘pats on the back all the time’ after he was visibly exasperated with the West Ham captain before his goal in their win over Bournemouth

• Declan Rice struggled with his passing during the opening stages of the game 
• The West Ham captain would go on to score in their dominant 4-0 victory 
• David Moyes said he would refuse to give his star midfielder too much praise

David Moyes will attempt to ration the ‘pats on the back’ he gives to Declan Rice after the midfielder delivered another starring contribution in West Ham’s 4-0 drubbing of Bournemouth.

Moyes was visibly exasperated with his star midfielder in the opening half an hour, but the cajoling evidently worked as Rice went on to score for 3-0 before dominating the second period.

The win has opened a six-point cushion on Everton in 18th and followed West Ham’s Europa Conference League quarter-final win over Gent, which was also orchestrated by Rice.

Referring to his touchline lectures, Moyes said: ‘I told him (Rice) his passing had not been good enough in the opening part of the game. 

‘His standards are so high so I am not just going to pat him on the back all the time.

Declan Rice (left) scored West Ham’s third in their comfortable 4-0 victory against Bournemouth but David Moyes (right) refused to give his star ‘too much praise’ after the game

West Ham captain Rice Rice (right) struggled with his passing in the early stages of the match

‘Too much praise makes you soft.’

Moyes added: ‘I have been saying it for a long time – he’s a top player. He can do all the bits and pieces and he can finish when asked to do so, as we’re beginning to see a little bit more.

‘Look I can’t say too much because I talk so glowing about him and I want to make sure the other players in the team realise they are as important, if not more important. 

‘They have to keep stepping up, we all have to keep stepping up to make sure we keep going.

‘We’re in good momentum and we have still got quite a lot to play for. 

West Ham have built up a six-point cushion above the relegation zone with their victory

‘We’ve still got to make sure we’re a Premier League club and we’re in the semi-finals of a European competition now, so if we can keep this run going until the end of the season it will give us a great chance.’

Bournemouth’s defeat followed a run of three wins in four. Ahead of Thursday’s relegation clash with Southampton, manager Gary O’Neil said: ‘There is a lesson to learn and we cannot play like that in both boxes. We should have scored goals with the opportunities we had.

‘There is not too much to be said about the performance and we will review and move on to the next game.’

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