Some West Ham fans on social media heaped praise on defender Fabian Balbuena for his performance during the 1-0 defeat to Wolves.
The 27-year-old centre-back played the full game against Wolves on Saturday and even though he ended up on the losing side, Hammers supporters appreciated his efforts.
One fan tweeted that Balbuena submitted an excellent display as he intercepted so many of Wolves’ passes and made vital challenges, while another shared that they thought the defender was one of only handful of players who impressed.
Forever West Ham has rounded up some of the best tweets below:
https://twitter.com/LukieGriffin/status/1036154765997170688
https://twitter.com/JamesHart6WHU/status/1035943208432410625
Haven’t seen any praise for Balbuena on here yet, I thought he had a great game for us again
— Jack Yewman (@JackYewman) September 1, 2018
Balbuena was great, too. Looks a promising partnership
— Patrick Temperilli (@ptempi) September 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/Jonesy_1989/status/1035942815942037504
There was a complete lack of effort and desire to win from most of our squad, with the exceptions being Diop, Balbuena and Fabianski.
I thought those three players were excellent.
— West Ham Fan Zone (@WHUFCFZ) September 2, 2018
Only players I would applaud from today were Balbuena & Diop
— West Ham Transfers (@westhamtransfer) September 1, 2018
A positive – Diop and Balbuena looked good today and hopefully the start of a good centre back pairing.
— Wᴇsᴛ Hᴀᴍ Sᴏᴄɪᴀʟ (@WestHamSocial) September 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/louis_warwick/status/1035975345814601730
OPINION
It seems Manuel Pellegrini has found his ideal centre-back pairing if fans get their way. Balbuena and Issa Diop were vital in ensuring that the Hammers only slumped to a 1-0 defeat as it could have been worse given how the majority of the team were playing. The 27-year-old centre-back may have had some rocky moments against Wolves, which these fans chose to ignore, but he was generally vital to his side’s cause on Saturday. It’s nice to hear several supporters heap praise on Balbuena as it has no doubt been a struggle for him getting to grips with the Premier League following his move from the Corinthians this summer. The defender had never played in a European league before and if he has managed to settle in at the club already, than that is a promising development. As on fan stated Balbuena’s partnership with Diop looked promising and hopefully that continues to be the case.
