Daniel Feliciano

Sat 4 February 2023 20:40, UK

West Ham legend Carlton Cole has heaped praise on star defender Nayef Aguerd for his performance in the club’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle on Saturday.

The Hammers fell behind in the opening minutes thanks to Callum Wilson, before club-record signing Lucas Paqueta stabbed home an equaliser on the half-hour mark to see the points shared.

Aguerd started and played 90 minutes in the game and was terrific, making an outstanding block to deny Wilson a second goal during the second half, and Irons legend Cole took to his social media to praise the Moroccan and the result.

“Respect that point,” he wrote on his personal Twitter account (4 February). “Newcastle are no mugs.

“Hats off to Nayef Aguerd, top performance.”

Brilliant

West Ham spent a lot of money in the summer transfer window, and the performances of the team in the first half of the season were rightly criticised.

But it’s easy to forget that Aguerd wasn’t around for almost the entirety of that period before the World Cup after suffering an ankle injury in pre-season.

Since his return to the side the team looks so much better defensively and way more assured, and his presence is undoubtedly a huge part of that.

It was a £30m signing for a player that not many people had heard of before the summer, but he has proven to be an exceptional talent and his performances at the World Cup would no doubt have got clubs sniffing around him had we not already done our business.

We’ve got a terrific defender in our ranks and the team looks to have turned a corner in terms of performances, so now it’s time to push on and push up the table too.