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West Ham’s lesser known trio gets time to shine in FA Cup

By Adam Smith

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 01: David Moyes, Manager of West Ham United celebrates victory with Arthur Masuaku of West Ham United after the Premier League match between West Ham United and AFC Bournemouth at London Stadium on January 01, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 01: David Moyes, Manager of West Ham United celebrates victory with Arthur Masuaku of West Ham United after the Premier League match between West Ham United and AFC Bournemouth at London Stadium on January 01, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) /
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The cliques around West Ham are ever-present and quite obvious from team training photos. The French trio that hasn’t been seen all too much lately, however, will be at the forefront at Gillingham.

One striker, one fullback/winger, and one center-back. The West Ham bromance trio you haven’t seen too much from lately will be at the forefront of the Hammers’ strong team set to face off against Gillingham in the 3rd round match at Gillingham.

Sebastien Haller, Arthur Masuaku, and Issa Diop, all but one dropped to the bench recently will get the call up to start for David Moyes in the FA Cup, and it is well deserved. For each player, however, the reasoning behind their usage is different.

With Sebastien Haller, it’s all about getting goals and getting the momentum going for the marquee striker. His ridiculous goal against Bournemouth was his second in three matches and proved what he can do with the slightest bit of service. He is a no-brainer to start this match and has the ability and reputation to score a bucketful against this League One side.

For Arthur Masuaku, his usage in this match is a necessity for Moyes’ Hammers. Aaron Cresswell was revealed as an injury doubt in the pre-match press conference so the next man up is Masuaku. He looked extremely comfortable as a leftwing/attacking midfielder off the bench against Bournemouth and ideally will be used there in league play moving forward. For now, however, he’s the starting left-back and the full match will be good for him.

Lastly is Issa Diop. Moyes has three centre-backs he can rotate in the squad on form and right now it’s Angelo Ogbonna and Fabian Balbuena‘s turn. That means Cup action for Diop which isn’t a bad thing. Gillingham will be hungry to attack and Diop can show off his ability to his new manager.

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The trio is clearly pals as shown by the West Ham media team, but it’s also been pretty apparent in Haller’s goal celebrations. We had to wait a little while to see it, but against Southampton and Bournemouth Haller went to the bench to dap up both his French running mates before setting up to start again. The more chemistry the better, let’s hope West Ham’s French trio can get the job done and push on for a good FA Cup run!