With others very keen to do ratings I had no chance to offer my men of the match last night but had I done so Arthur Masuaku would have been my top man.
Relieved of any serious responsibility to defend, he was allowed to get on with what he does best -and he really was something of a revelation again…long may it continue.
The guy was always prominent going forward and really does have very good feet when he’s at his best and based on what we’ve seen for too long now is a far better bet down the left side than the regularly lightweight Felipe Anderson.
Arthur cost £5 million – the Brazilian £35 milllion – and he was everything you want from a left sided midfielder. Moyes knew that and for all the flak he has thrown at him by some, the manager couldn’t have got it more right at Arsenal.
Long may Arthur’s attacking form continue – he causes real and danger for the opposition.
And speaking after the game at he said at https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2020/september/20-september/arthur-masuaku-we-have-take-positives-our-performance : “It was a decent team performance, but not the result we wanted. “We just have to take the positives from this game because as a team I think we played well.
“We need to keep going from Sunday and hopefully, with a bit of luck, we can win the next game.”
Pic courtesy of www.whufc.com
“We showed a great team spirit and we played well as a team,” he added. “Last week was a poor performance against Newcastle, and the gaffer told us that we need to change this – we need to play as a team and be hard to beat.
“I think we played well and had chances to win the game. Unfortunately we didn’t, but we have to be positive.
“If we have the opportunity to kill the game we just have to do it. .We’ve shown that we can compete against these teams. We have a strong team and if we play like we did tonight, we will win games.”
Amazing what happens when you actually play a winger as a winger. He’s never been a defender he said so in his first ever interview. I’ve always believed that deployed in the right position he could be pretty lethal so hats off to him for showing his skill last night.
Mas is NOT a left back, never has been (Imo) yet gets vilified by sections of our fan base who want him out of the club when he plays there. Would we say and play Ant at right back?
Agreed. Masuaku has more grit than Anderson. That’s the difference. Masuaku will compete in a 50/50 and in heading duels. Anderson does my head in as he shirks all challenges in my view.
Agreed that he had a decent game, as did the team. Much better team spirit was in evidence and the team played better without Mark Noble in my opinion. Last week showed that maybe the miles on the clock have really caught up with Mark for the PL. I have always thought Masuaku was a decent, unpredictable left-sided midfielder or wing-back but he’s never been a full back. With our squad – and we all know we’ve struggled at full back for years – 3 at the back, with wing-backs is a sensible formation. Many on here, myself included. have suggested this for a long time. But I don’t see Cresswell as the answer at left centre back. I would rather see Diop, Balbuena and Ogbonna as the 3, but that leaves us with little cover on the bench unless Cardozo or one of the other youngsters could be considered. Perhaps Moyes would go 3 at the back if he got Tarkowski. Either way, 2 new full backs who can actually defend first and foremost are needed to give us solidity if Moyes goes 4 at the back. Yarmalenko’s performance showed why Bowen is such an asset offensively and in defence too. Encouraging, but still ‘nul points’.
The big difference yesterday was that we had a leader on the pitch and were not carrying a passenger . Masuaku played in his correct position and suddenly we were competitive in midfield . He also contributed a number of times by going with runners and helping out his defence which is something Noble is not capable of . Even Nobles most ardent supporters must now see that he is a liability . Unfortunately it took an injury for Moyes to make the correct decision and I can’t help but think that Noble will walk , literally , back into the team . With him we are going to struggle . Without him we have a chance .
Got to agree with your assessment of both Arthur and Moyes….. Spot on Hugh! It’s about time that we stopped thinking of Arthur as a left-back because he has shown on many occasions that he has ton’s of ability further up the field and has so far been utilised wrongly as a left-back.
Arthur is the sort of player that a club like West Ham sells, only to realise just how good he is when he’s playing for another team. I also feel that he gives us more than Anderson on that left side.
Yesterday’s performance also told me that we do have the right man in charge and that given the funds, he will be able to turn this club around.
Masuaku didn’t play as a winger. I don’t know what match people were watching. He was a left wing back in a system which moves between five at the back defending and three at the back attacking. I agree he’s more effective in that system with three centre backs where Cresswell moves over to allow Masuaku to get forward. A lot of what he does is all smoke and mirrors though. It annoys me when he gets forward in a mazy run and goes past players, and gets himself into a decent position to provide an assist, only to blaze the ball high over the crossbar. I don’t think he’s a team player. He’s an individual playing in a team.