Sam Allardyce amazed by how well 25-year-old Arsenal player moves on the pitch

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Declan Rice has been one of Arsenal’s best players this season.

The midfielder did have a bit of a dip in form over the festive period, but aside from that, he’s been one of the Gunners’ top performers.

Rice has been utterly brilliant since signing for Arsenal, and he’s earned plenty of praise from people within the game.

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, Sam Allardyce has been full of praise for Rice, claiming that he was blown away when he watched him live for West Ham last season, reserving some special praise for the way he moves around the pitch despite his size and stature.

Sam Allardyce blown away by Declan Rice

The manager spoke about the 25-year-old Arsenal star.

“I watched him live, sadly when I was at Leeds last season, Kevin Nolan had told him about me for all that time. I said to Moyesy I said it will be hard when you lose him and he said he was definitely going in the summer. 6 ft 3 as well. His mobility, the way he changes direction, he’s so fluent for a big lad,” Allardyce said.

Incredible

There’s plenty to be said about Rice’s technical ability and whether he’s an elite player in that regard, but what you can’t question are his physical attributes.

He’s a giant on the pitch with his size and strength, but he moves across the pitch with such speed and grace.

It’s not a comparison that we necessarily agree with on a technical level, but there are a lot of parallels to be made with Zinedine Zidane in terms of how Rice moves on the pitch as his size and strength doesn’t impact his ability to accelerate quickly in any direction he wants.

We can certainly understand why Allardyce has been so impressed by the way Rice moves on the pitch.