OPINION
West Ham United’s impressive run of form in the Premier League came to a very abrupt end when Brighton secured a 1-0 win over them at the Amex Stadium on Friday.
The Hammers were no doubt feeling confident going into this clash, and why wouldn’t they have been? They only beat Manchester United 3-1 the weekend before.
However, the Irons did not look like they were that comfortable at any stage of the match, and one player stood out like a sore thumb in particular.
That player was left-back Arthur Masuaku, who did not seem to know what the was doing for the majority of the fixture.
The Seagulls’ midfielders – namely Baram Kayal and Solly March – ran rings around him all evening long, making blistering runs that he could not keep up with.
The 24-year-old normally looks rather comfortable in his position, but he looked far from that on the South Coast this weekend.
This is why Manuel Pellegrini must consider him for the axe, as the left-back role was heavily exposed with all the mistakes he was making on Friday.
He failed to close down a number of Brighton’s attacks, and that is simply not good enough, especially when the Irons had just got their rhythm back.
Pellegrini may not have the best of cover at left-back in the shape of Aaron Cresswell, but there is every chance that he would perform a lot better the 5ft 1oin [Transfermarkt] enforcer.
Masuaku really struggled and this should be of the utmost concern for the manager – if he cannot cope with the attacking threat of team roughly on the same level as West Ham, how will he manage to cope when playing the likes of Manchester City?
The West Ham faithful will no doubt be hugely disappointed with the way Masuaku performed – as far as they may be concerned, he is just a liability on the pitch.
Pellegrini must not be afraid to axe one of his first team stars – especially if he wants to see his team return to winning ways very soon.
