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From 'King Authur' To Scapegoat What's Gone Wrong?

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Sun, 07/10/2018 - 21:24

Last season West Ham went on a relegation threatening run of poor results that ultimately ended in the sacking of Slaven Billic, David Moyes arrived and started to 'put things right', part of the process involved moving Marko Arnoutovic from the wing to a central role and playing Authur Mauaku as an out and out wing back. Aaron Cresswell was employed as part of a back three which meant Masuaku was given licence to roam down the wing, every thing went well until he managed to get himself sent off for spitting at an opponent which also earned him a six match ban.

During Masuaku's enforced absence the team's form suffered badly and fans waited anxiously for his return, yes really! Once back in the fold Masuaku picked up from where he left off and put in some stirring performances which eventually helped lift the club to a safe thirteenth place. So what has gone wrong and why has he suddenly become the fan's scapegoat? He really has come in for a huge amount of criticism, not all of it entirely justified, Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini has elected to play Masuaku as a full back who is still required to get forward, unfortunatley he is not able to properly combine both roles and therefore gets exposed on a regular basis, relying on Issa Diop to cover him.

Sadly it seems that Masuaku has gone from 'King' to pauper in a short space of time and looks a shadow of his former self, there are alarming similarities with those of Hérita Ilunga back in the day, and that didn't end well did it? Is Aaron Cresswell a better option? He has been injured but will hopefully use the International break in order to up his fitness and may well end up replacing Masuaku who might benefit from being taken out of the firing line for a while.

In the end neither Masuaku nor Cresswell might be used for much past this season, as Pellegrini can be quite ruthless and won't countenance failure in such a prominent position, they will both be looking over their shoulders, and so they should! - Ed

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asheshammer's picture

If he can't improve and if El Pel won't change the system, then we have to go with Cresswell. Seems to me that Arthur is also not getting the ball into the penalty area in the dangerous ways he used to, either.

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142 users have voted.
nevillenixon's picture

Exactly, he may be a bit of a one trick pony but when he is left to roam forward he can be a formidable player, he just seems like he is caught between a rock and a hard place

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97 users have voted.
moore 6 legend's picture

Yes there's no denying masu and his box of tricks going forward,still waiting for that end product from him though,some of his skills are such a joy to watch,remember what he done to the 2 spud players Heung-Min & Aurier proper mugged em off,one of the best bit of skills that.

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124 users have voted.
Jenningsthehero's picture

The man has brilliant quick feet and is an asset when playing forward, but as a defender he is a liability,we try to push up now as a four and he is very prone to be the last man up and plays the opposition onside while looking a bit blank as to where he is suppose to be, I think he is a brilliant sub to get off the bench,swapping with Anderson or Yarma but we need a proper left back, either bring Cresswell back or buy but not EVRA!!

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150 users have voted.

I think it just goes to show how unconvincing these new technical positions are ,wing back ,what's a wing back ?, To me your either one or the other ,winger or full back ,he just hasn't got the now how to defend ,it's true what dicksy said ,I would try rotating Anderson and him see how that works ,early days of last season he absolutely terrorised defenses cutting in from the flanks and laying off great passes ,I'll say it again imo getting rid of our excess ,Lucas ,Ant and Snodgrass are a more important factor ,a bad bench does nothing for player moral

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133 users have voted.

Burkie 1

Back in the day you were either a defender or on the wing...all this wing back malarkey makes me laugh!!Mas has never been good at defending we all can see it,but i still think he is decent going forward,though TBF cresswell was a liability at left back most of the time last season,but who else is there??Bit of dilemma me thinks for El Pel!!

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148 users have voted.
nevillenixon's picture

Bang on, Hernandez and Carroll are on a combined wage in excess of £220,000 per week, which is ludicrous! Even though Pellegrini says he is happy with what he has, reading between the lines he didn't say he wouldn't get rid of 'waste' material during the January transfer window.

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106 users have voted.

it's quite simple really - he's awful defensively. absolutely cresswell should be picked ahead of him in a back 4 as a left back. that being said we need a new leftback ASAP

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112 users have voted.

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