Carlton Cole gushes over West Ham star who was ‘immense’ on Monday
West Ham United manager David Moyes sprung a few surprises with his team selection against league leaders Liverpool on Monday night.
The Scot ditched the five man backline that utterly failed against Manchester City the previous week, going with a flat back four.
He also brought playmaker Felipe Anderson back into the starting XI, with Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen left on the bench.
Perhaps the biggest shock, though, was 19-year-old right back Jeremy Ngakia getting the nod ahead of veteran Pablo Zabaleta.
The youngster was superb in the 3-2 defeat at Anfield, however, and left former Hammer Carlton Cole very impressed.
“I thought his concentration and focus on Monday night was immense,” he told the club’s official website. “To hold his own against someone like Sadio Mane, one of the best in the world at the moment, and other players like Andy Robertson, was a measure of his quality.
“Jeremy is a natural defender. I think he started as a winger, but he has that natural instinct to defend – his reading of the game and sense of positioning are very, very good. And he has developed that entirely in the West Ham Academy, which is huge credit to the staff and coaches who have guided him on his journey.
“But he was outstanding in that fixture, and he was outstanding again on Monday night. Don’t forget, he is coming into a very difficult situation with where we are in the table, and not only that but he has played his first two matches against the European and world champions, who will be Premier League champions this season.”
How good was Ngakia?
He was absolutely tremendous on Monday night. The teenager was very much thrown in at the deep end once again against the Reds, but he coped admirably.
He made five tackles, three interceptions and four clearances, while embarking on two successful dribbles, all to the tune of a fine 7.18 WhoScored rating.
You wonder whether Zabaleta is going to get much more football this season, because Ngakia looks set to take the right back position while Ryan Fredericks is out.
But you can’t overstate how well the youngster coped against the best team in the Premier League on Monday.
In other West Ham news, a former England international is keen to see a Hammers star in from the start.