Premier League legend Alan Shearer has heaped praise on West Ham United centre back Issa Diop for his performance against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
The former Toulouse man came back into the starting line up in place of Angelo Ogbonna and played a pivotal part in his team’s surprise 1-0 victory over Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Shearer had kind words for several Hammers stars after the game: “Some terrific performances from West Ham today,” he wrote on his personal Twitter account.
“[Michail] Antonio, [Mark] Noble, [Ryan] Fredericks all excellent but the best was Issa Diop magnificent at the back again,” he finished.
Some terrific performances from @WestHamUtd today Antonio, Noble,Fredericks all excellent but the best was Issa Diop magnificent at the back again. #TOTWHU @BBCMOTD
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) April 27, 2019
OPINION
All four of the West Ham players Shearer mentioned deserve huge praise for their performances against Tottenham on Saturday. Antonio scored the decisive goal and was a major problem for the Spurs defence from start to finish. His celebration was perhaps questionable, but he ended up making a big impact on the game. Noble was also tremendous in the middle of the park. Declan Rice, for once, appeared to struggle a bit on Saturday. Noble alongside him, though, was absolutely superb. Then there’s Fredericks, who rebounded from an extremely trying first half to produce a terrific display after the break. Diop, as Shearer says though, was utterly excellent at the heart of the West Ham defence. The Frenchman came back into the team and produced a masterclass in defensive football. He deserves every bit of praise he gets. The Diop-Fabian Balbuena combination looked very much back to its best at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
