Arthur Masuaku could be forgiven for wondering what he has to do to nail down a first team place should he not get the nod for our next Premier League game at Turf Moor.
For during the last two games he has shown himself – over limited periods of course – to to be the best left winger at the club.
This is a guy who just loves to get forward and appears to be a far better offensive than defensive player.
The two crosses which led to goals in the matches against Spurs and Swansea were moments of the highest quality and beyond anything seen over the last 180 odd minutes.
However, having splashed out a club record fee for Marko Arnautovic it’s unlikely that Bilic will use Arthur ahead of him anytime soon.
It’s a pleasant problem for the manager to have but one which needs to be solved regardless because to have such potential sitting on the bench for three quarters of a game is a horrible waste.
After seven games it seems the boss is still struggling to find his best and most effective set-up which too often has a ‘don’t lose’ look about it.
Masuaku’s game appears to be based on running at players and making life as difficult as possible – an approach which might serve the manager very well indeed!
COYI
Agreed. If Arthur can now show consistency in what he is doing, he could be a godsend for us. We are short of genuine winger cover, he could save us a small fortune, doing what he is doing.
Of course it’s early days yet and he needs to keep doing it when he gets a chance, but I am not one who believes a player should play just because he costsa lot. If he is performing better than Arnie in that position, then he should eventually win the shirt.
Just please don’t put him in the defence because he is wasted there. I’ll bet he is enjoying it better in the attacking half of the field.
Surely the instructions are coming from bilic himself aren’t they?
No..? Oh…
Slavin could take a few tips from a number of people, like playing Sakho and Hernadez together and not putting AC in because he is ‘fit’, like dropping Ayew, like not playing Antonio when clearly not fit or mentally not sure of his fitness, like Cresswell leaving massive gaps at the back which EVERY team this year has exploited, like encouraging Noble to look for quicker forward balls, let alone that Arthur is a better prospect at wingback .
Is that enough tips for now??
Masuaku for is great and yes you risk making Arnie upset but can’t argue with just small amount of sub time Arthur as been outamding and apparently has been working on his cross bc he has some nice bullet deliverys not lobs.
Pace strength dribble take ons with the right coaching and development at only 23 he could go on to do great things. He should def be getting for then 13 apps last season and was good when played at LWB too.
I like him Arnie jury still out think £25m for him on 5 year contract was as big of a risk as getting outside PL… And then add I don’t think he would be happy on bench.
Not a bad situation to have tho… But frustrating