Who is West Ham’s starting left-back for Everton away?

Manuel Pellegrini has done some work tying up loose ends this season, inking both Arthur Masuaku and Aaron Cresswell to new contract extensions. So, who’s the starting left-back for match week 9?

Aaron Cresswell

I suppose he’s the current starting left-back, so currently, it’s Aaron Cresswell’s position to lose in the starting XI. Pellegrini’s hand was forced when a red-card suspension pushed the well-performing Masuaku from the line-up. With bated breath Hammers’ supporters watched as the previously misfiring fullback assumed a starting job.

What followed was probably unpredictable to most onlookers. Cresswell played extremely well against Manchester United, dominating the left sideline and banging in a picturesque free-kick to seal a win for the Irons. He earned the next start against Bournemouth and scored another goal, beautifully created by Anderson and Yarmolenko.

With the loss to Crystal Palace, many supporters have turned their blame on Felipe Anderson who has yet to score this season. What followed was a shallow justification into why Anderson is struggling, which resulted in the finger being pointed at Cresswell who isn’t as “excitingly attacking” as Masuaku. While this narrative is easy to follow, it doesn’t add up. Five goals in three matches for the Cresswell Hammers, picking up 4 points and an Anderson assist along the way means the attack, especially down the wing, is doing just fine.

Arthur Masuaku

Wrongfully victimized by the attention-seeking Mike Dean, Masuaku was given an unwarranted second yellow card against Aston Villa and was forced out of the Manchester United match. As mentioned above, Cresswell stepped in and played extremely well in his absence. It’s widely understood that Masuaku was inappropriately given a red card and in theory should have had his place reserved for him when he returned… but Cresswell’s freekick changed that storyline.

Masuaku was subsequently forced into the Cup team to face Oxford, which fell embarrassingly 4-0 to the League One team, with him actually falling and gifting one of the goals to the opposition during the match. He didn’t look sharp, his team didn’t look sharp, and thus, Cresswell remained in the first team.

As it stands now, Aaron Cresswell should be West Ham’s starting left-back. Yes, Masuaku was having an all-European start to the season at that spot but circumstances change and he failed to impact a game (against Oxford) that he could have helped dominate. Cresswell is still the hot hand and is the defacto starting fullback for the Hammers.