Journalist: West Ham starter had a ‘stinker’ v Man City
There were a number of West Ham United players who underperformed against Manchester City in the team’s 2-0 defeat on Wednesday night.
The Hammers fans won’t have expected too much from their team heading into a clash with the champions at the Etihad Stadium.
However, the meek and lifeless effort they put in will have been the most frustrating thing for the Toffees faithful.
David Moyes’ men simply never looked like scoring, despite City’s defensive struggles this campaign.
One man who performed slightly worse than some of his (also very poor) teammates was left back Arthur Masuaku.
That’s the view of Hammers correspondent Sam Inkersole, anyway.
“Our team shows three changes from the one that was beaten by City in midweek, with Jarrod Bowen coming in for his full debut, Fabian Balbuena replacing Arthur Masuaku and Pablo Zabaleta in for the injured Fredericks,” he wrote in a line-up prediction on the Football London website.
“Masuaku has a stinker against City and will be fortunate t[o] keep his spot, we have brought in Balbuena to play in the back five and shifted Aaron Cresswell out to left wing back after playing as a third centre half at City.”
Is Inkersole right, here?
Masuaku certainly wasn’t good, but was he any worse than the likes of Aaron Cresswell and Mark Noble?
He made four tackles and three clearances, but failed to produce an interception or a block. Meanwhile, only 64.5% of his passes found their intended target.
To be honest, though, he was probably worse in the 3-3 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion than he was against City.
As Inkersole says, though, it will be a big surprise if the DR Congo international started against Liverpool.
In other West Ham news, former Hammers striker Les Ferdinand has had his say on what the problem at the club is.