David Moyes raves about West Ham defender Issa Diop
David Moyes has showered praise on West Ham defender Issa Diop for his performance against Leicester City.
The Hammers managed a 2-2 draw against the Foxes on Sunday [13 February] in the Premier League, where Diop started the game alongside Craig Dawson.
Kurt Zouma missed the game through illness, and Moyes was left with little option but to start with the 25-year-old defender.
Moyes was full of praise for the defender after the game. He said, as quoted by Football London: “I think Issa is a really good player, his form has been a little bit up and down but I think there are some reasons for that. We like Issa, we really do.
“We think Issa has, I was going to say potential but we feel because he has been here that long we feel his potential should be out and he should be showing it and maturing with it.
“He has a lot of good attributes and I am pleased he did play well, he had a good game and I could not turn around and fault him too much on anything he did but as I said he was made well aware there was a good chance he may have to step in and he knew that himself from quite early on.”
Lack of consistency
The French defender is a highly talented player, but he has struggled for consistency at West Ham.
There was a window of opportunity for him to cement his position in the side when Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna got injured.
He started regularly during that period alongside Dawson but failed to make a strong impact. In total, he has made nine Premier League starts this season.
Against Leicester, he was solid. He made two interceptions and as many as six clearances, according to Whoscored.
On top of that, he got an assist to his name as well.
It seems, the Hammers boss still keeps a lot of faith in the defender but he has suggested that Diop must show maturity by now.
He has been at the club for a long time, and it is expected of him to start delivering on a regular basis, rather than showing flashes of brilliance.
In other West Ham news, here’s how we rated the players for their performances at the King Power stadium.