OPINION
Arthur Masuaku is a name that has not been thought about fondly at West Ham United this season, and rightly so.
The 25-year-old has been rather clumsy playing at left-back, with his ability to make avoidable mistakes one of the main reasons why the fans have not taken them into their hearts quite so much as his teammates, but you cannot blame them really.
That is why he has been left out of the side, with Manuel Pellegrini preferring Aaron Cresswell as his first choice – however, things could not look more different at the moment.
Masuaku replaced Cresswell in the 2-1 loss to Manchester United last Saturday, and it is safe to say that the fans have never witnessed a more assured display from the defender in a West Ham shirt before.
Of all the games Masuaku decides to step up in, it has to be against one of the sides challenging for a Premier League top four spot.
The £40,000-a-week [Spotrac] player was just sublime that evening – he ran rings around the United attackers, and he soon put any doubts the supporters may have had straight to bed.
One player who would have been looking on with a close eye was Cresswell, who would have surely been sweating after seeing his teammate turn heads with an impressive outing.
The likelihood of Masuaku starting once again on Saturday is very high, after all, it would be cruel to drop him now – and if he ends up blowing everyone away again, then Cresswell will surely be left out in the cold.
Pellegrini may have no choice but to give the 29-year-old the cold shoulder if Masuaku produces the goods yet again, as at the moment, he is the best choice for the left-back role.
