Amadou Diawara insists he ‘put a stamp’ on West Ham United ace Lucas Paqueta for showboating
Lucas Paqueta came off the bench and ran the show against Anderlecht last week, and Amadou Diawara admits the West Ham star angered him.
West Ham maintained their 100 per cent record in the Europa Conference League last Thursday, with Gianluca Scamacca scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win.
Both Scamacca and Paqueta were brought off the bench by David Moyes, and the Hammers duo ended up running the show and securing all three points.
However, Paqueta’s display of skill in Brussels left opposition midfielder Diawara livid, and the Guinean player insists he did everything he could to “put a stamp” on the Brazilian.
“I can’t have come this far and given up. That’s the mentality I use on the pitch. I want to fight until the end,” said Diawara, as quoted by DH Les Sports.
“Last week against West Ham, when Paqueta showed a few skills as soon as he came into the pitch, I put a stamp on it. We can’t tolerate letting people play like this, especially at home. I wanted to show him that he was not at home.”
“It’s with this mentality that we have to play. We have to become more aggressive. It will come but the team is young, it’s normal.”
Bring it on
Whatever Diawara tried to do to contain Paqueta last week – it didn’t work.
West Ham’s Brazilian Magnifico put on a dominant display at Lotto Park and provided a brilliant assist for Scamacca’s goal despite his limited playing time in Belgium.
If Moyes does choose to start Paqueta at the London Stadium on Thursday evening, his duel against Diawara in the heart of midfield is definitely one to keep an eye on.
West Ham’s record signing has quickly grown to become a crucial part of Moyes’ plans, and his technical ability allows him to unlock defences on command.
With Scamacca able to latch on to his passes and finish any chances provided to him, the Hammers look to be building the start of a deadly duo.
Diawara’s “aggressive” approach won’t intimidate Paqueta or any part of West Ham’s midfield – it’ll simply open up more space for him to operate and hurt the Anderlecht defence.