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Moyes solves Paqueta riddle

By Gonzo

David Moyes has admitted that he initially got it wrong with Lucas Paqueta . . . sort of!

During an honest interview the West Ham manager confessed that he initially purchased the former Lyon playmaker as a ‘No 10’ or creative midfielder. However, during the World Cup Moyesie was able to watch  a few games and noticed a subtle difference in the way Paqueta played for Brazil.

As anyone who watched the samba boys will no doubt be aware, Paqueta played in a deeper role alongside Manchester United’s Casemiro. This left the the bulk of the attacking duty to Neymar who would then look to supply the three players ahead of him.

Clearly the Hammers boss thought, ‘if it’s good enough for Brazil, it’s good enough for West Ham’. Since that epiphany in Qatar, Moyes has decided to ditch Tomas Soucek and deploy the Brazilian £50m man as Declan Rice’s partner.

When asked about Paqueta, Moyes said. “When we bought Lucas, we looked at him as more of a No 10. We tried to bring in someone who could give us a link between the midfield and forward players and I still think it may happen”. 

“But his feeling is, if you look at where he’s played for Brazil, it’s tended to be Casemiro and Paqueta in midfield and Neymar getting the No 10 role. Lucas Paqueta was slightly deeper. We’ve tried to give him the opportunity to play deeper where he’s played for Brazil. “I’ll be honest, we brought him for eight to ten goals, for eight to ten assists. But if you’re asking me how he’s doing, he’s settling in much better, he’s playing better in games. We’re playing him more like a No 8 if you want to call it that, alongside Dec. But the fact is, yeah, we hoped he would get us goals or add assists.”

 

 

About Gonzo

Hammers Chat video blogger @Gonzobignose

4 comments on “Moyes solves Paqueta riddle

  1. Surely DM is not that silly every West Ham fan could see he was being played out of position (if he wasn’t sitting on the bench to get match fit) half the season gone and he’s only just worked out his best position? Mr Moyes we are not that naive!

  2. You have to ask, what position he was playing in before we purchased him? When we scouted him was he playing a number 10 or a holding midfield player? We are desperate for more goals.

  3. Glad he’s now playing Paqueta instead of Soucek. I mean – what a midfield – Rice & Paqueta!! And Aguerd behind them… With a fit Scamacca and Bowen firing, all we need is a better No. 10 and we have the axis of a top 6 side.

    But it begs the question… surely you’d have asked the player where he wants to play before you signed him. You’d have scouted this out beforehand, rather than spending £50m on a player then watching TV like us commoners to work out how to get the best out of him…?!?

  4. Well said Buddy on all fronts. Moyes has a habit of signing players then not knowing how to play them, or even if to play them. Honestly, this is basic stuff for a manager surely?

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