OPINION
West Ham defender Arthur Masuaku has been a liability for his side on more than one occasion this season but he submitted a significantly improved performance against Leicester City on Saturday.
The 24-year-old left-back in his eight appearances ahead of the 0-0 draw with the Foxes has regularly looked unable to perform his defensive duties and has made several errors that have caused the Hammers problems in games.
While Masuaku’s first-half performance against Claude Puel’s side had some flaws, once the second-half started he was a changed man.
The 24-year-old put in several important blocks, was never caught out of position like he regularly is and made some vital tackles to deny the Foxes any sniff of any opportunity on goal.
It looked as if the penny had finally dropped for Masuaku when it comes to knowing what is expected of a Premier League defender and he appeared to turn a corner during his latest outing.
It could be argued that because Manuel Pellegrini desperately needed the 24-year-old to sort himself out defensively during the game, it inspired him to perform to his best.
The Hammers manager needed Masuaku more than ever to be defensively sound during the game, as his side had their backs to the wall after they were reduced to 10-men in the 38th minute.
Mark Noble was rightly sent off for a tackle on Wilfred Ndidi and due to being a man down the odds were stacked against the Hammers when came to getting a point from their latest match.
However the Hammers had a 1-0 lead ahead of Noble getting his marching orders and due to players such as Masuaku raising their games, then it helped Pellegrini not witness his side lose their third game in a row.
Hopefully Masuaku has turned a corner after his latest outing, as he appeared to, and he will be able to submit more defensively acceptable performances in his upcoming appearance to aid his side’s cause.
