Arthur Masuaku Marks 100th West Ham Appearance with Masterclass

Arthur Masuaku celebrated his 100th career West Ham appearance with a dominant and scintillating effort against Manchester City.

Any result against Manchester City should be celebrated and will likely come from solid defending, opportunistic attacking, and team unity. This was exactly the case but so too was it the case of Arthur Masuaku showing off his skill and a marquee performance to mark his West Ham century.

Left on his wing opposite him and Aaron Cresswell was the dynamic duo of Riyad Mahrez and Kyle Walker. The Algerian winger has one goal and one assist this season, while his overlapping fullback brings pace and physicality to support the playmaker. Too bad they never had a chance to get out of Masuaku’s pocket.

Often slated for his defensive abilities, Masuaku shut down his critics by dominating the Manchester City duo for the entire match. Not biting on Mahrez’s dribbling, and sticking a well-placed leg in on both City players to break up possession was on the menu for Masuaku, who didn’t have many if any defensive faults in this match.

To cap off his defensive performance and to yet again prove that he can be a two-way player, Masuaku was dazzling further up the pitch. The ball might as well have been tied to his boots because he was pulling the strings all around City’s midfield and defence.

Highlighted by a dangerous and perfect set of stepovers and ball-dragging turns, with no defensive cover behind him and Raheem Sterling, Rodri, and Kevin De Bruyne all trying to pry possession off of him. Masuaku stayed calm, cool, and collected, retaining possession, buying time for his defenders to get back in place, and sucking in the City attackers to spring another chance for his team.

Played out of position and maligned for his lack-lustre efforts, Arthur Masuaku was previously seen as spare parts and was believed to be on his way out this summer with David Moyes cleaning house on former managers players.

Instead, Moyes, who has previously used a wingback formation even at West Ham, stuck with the player and played him in his natural position, instead of shoehorning him in at left-back. This has since freed up Cresswell into a better position, allowed the forward line to stay committed forward, and has jailbroken wingbacks on the right side of the pitch as well.

True to his name, Arthur Masuaku put in a king’s performance against Manchester City and is proving his doubters wrong along the way. A rocky road to 100 West Ham matches has been capped off with a remarkable effort, an important point, and all the poise in the world to keep pushing forward!