'He has been West Ham's best player for the last season and a half': Danny Murphy defends Declan Rice after Roy Keane questioned England midfielder's 'football intelligence'

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Danny Murphy has come out in defence of Declan Rice, after the West Ham and England midfielder was slaughtered for his apparent lacklustre performance during Sunday's 4-0 win over Kosovo.

Rice played 90 minutes in the heart of midfield as England wrapped up their group stage matches in style, qualifying for Euro 2020 with gusto.

But following the final whistle the youngster was heavily criticised by Roy Keane, who previously worked with Rice during his time with the Republic of Ireland. Both his positional play and decision making with the ball came into question, along with his game intelligence.

Danny Murphy has come out in defence of Declan Rice after criticisms were aimed at the star

Rice played the full 90 minutes as England beat Kosovo, but was singled out by Roy Keane

Less than 24 hours later however, former England man Murphy has decided to come to Rice's aid, claiming Keane 'went over the top' with his comments and failed to mention the positive aspects of his performance.

'Rice has been West Ham's best player for the last season and a half,' Murphy said, live on air with TalkSport on Monday morning. 

Speaking in the ITV studio, Keane went about listing all the areas in which Rice must improve

'I think his positional play is good and he spots danger very well,' Murphy added, highlighting what he perceived to be the positive aspects of the play.

Keane had not held back with his assessment a day prior, immediately putting Rice under the spotlight in the ITV Studio.

'England got sucked into sloppy defending again today,' Keane said to ITV. 'If the same players (referring to Rice) keep making the same mistakes you have to make changes.

'Rice’s body language even is wrong at set-pieces, he’s on his heels and then jogs out. Rice keeps making the same mistakes, you do have to worry about his football intelligence.'

Keane said Rice's body language is wrong and questioned the level of his football intelligence

He added: 'There’s plenty of aspects Declan Rice needs to improve. Where do I start?

'I worked with him for the Republic of Ireland. His positional play (needs work), I don’t think he’s been consistent enough, he’s sloppy in possession, he doesn’t chase runners.'