OPINION
West Ham defender Arthur Masuaku is surely set for a long stint on the bench after witnessing teammate Aaron Cresswell wow against Southampton on Thursday.
The 25-year-old has been jostling with Cresswell to the club’s number one choice at left-back and has proven in the majority of his 17 outings this season that he isn’t the right choice for that role.
Masuaku is an impressive attacking force on his day but he has a tendency to be a defensive liability and a weak point of the Hammers’ defence that his opponents try to exploit.
On more than one occasion this season Masuaku has been at all odds and ends when asked to do his defensive duties and this has seen the Hammers ship avoidable goals.
Cresswell seemed to have successfully took back his place as the club’s number one left-back earlier in the season for that reason but a recent injury gifted Masuaku another opportunity to prove himself.
The DR Congo international played the full 90 minutes in the four leagues games ahead of Thursday’s clash with the Saints and struggled to prove that he could be trusted to play in a defensive position.
Pellegrini opted to start Cresswell in place of Masuaku for the 2-1 victory over the Saints and the 29-year-old wowed and proved he was the club’s best left-back.
Not only did Cresswell look solid when called into action at the back, rarely being caught out of position, the flyer regularly stormed forward and put in decent crosses that perhaps his teammates should have done more with.
Given that the 29-year-old’s recent injury is clearly behind him and he has been well rested after not featuring of late, there’s no reason for Cresswell not to be a consistent name on the teamsheet ahead of Masuaku as he very fresh after only making 10 appearances this season.
Pellegrini no doubt noticed how much better his side looked with Cresswell in their ranks and that means that Masuaku is surely set for a long stint on the bench as a result.
