West Ham and the prospect of Arthur Masuaku as an impact sub

Everything went flawless for West Ham last week as they took it to Chelsea on Saturday. Arguably the most exciting part of the match was the use of Arthur Masuaku as an impact sub in the midfield.

Since the middle of October when West Ham faced off against Everton, nobody has been able to find Arthur Masuaku on the team sheet. The Congolese international that had always been riddled with controversy seemed to have had added more over the past month.

Another piece of the Masuaku question mark is that he had an argument with Pellegrini about playtime and not getting enough only to see him missing again over the past weeks. Not seeing him on the team sheet had been a shock since he was the starting left-back just a few months back.

Masuaku had stated in the past that he isn’t a defender by trade and yet the Hammers or Pellegrini has never played him anywhere else so when his name finally appeared on the bench on Saturday against the Blue’s, most expected to see him come on in for either Aaron Cresswell or Ryan Fredericks.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 19: Djibril Sidibe of Everton vies with during the Premier League match between Everton FC and West Ham United at Goodison Park on October 19, 2019 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /

However, sometime after the 80th minute, he came on to replace Pablo Fornals, who in his own right was having his best match as a Hammer. In right around 7 minutes of action Arthur was able to link up on a nice cross and get a long ball down to push on the attack.

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As a defender he has finally seemed to master that trait, however, bringing him on as a sub in late situations could be a better-suited role for him at the moment. Think about it, Cresswell is playing great at the moment and needs to be starting but to bring on Masuaku after the hour mark can shut down the depleted attackers and push on with an attack of his own.

There is hope as well that he won’t be needed to only play in a defending role after Saturday with even just a small sample size for Pellegrini to digest. The fact that the Gaffer played him in the midfield role speaks volumes for what he might have in mind for the 26-year-old.

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Michail Antonio filled this role at one point in time but now that he is back from injury, he is primed for a starting role. Masuaku could fill this perfectly and be used on the wing, midfield, or in defense. This is a promising endeavor for sure and one that will hopefully continue this new trend upwards for the Hammers.