One debate that has been on the lips of many West Ham fans so far this season is whether Aaron Cresswell should be permanently replaced with Arthur Masuaku in the starting XI.
Cresswell hasn’t been at his best since that injury he picked in pre-season last summer and he has really struggled to be the consistent left-back we all raved about during his first two seasons at the club.
The arrival of Arthur Masuaku had us initially wondering what on earth Bilic has signed but after a couple of dodgy early performances, he has quickly become a far better option than Cresswell on the left.
In his last three games Masuaku has scored one and assisted two, and his two assists both came via cameo appearances from the substitutes bench.
His role in Diafra Sakho’s winner signified the exact kind of attacking urgency we’ve been desperate to see from our players so far this season, bombing down the left and then whipping in a dangerous ball for one of our boys to latch on to.
It was an impressive run but what is perhaps even more impressive is what he achieved in the 12 minutes he spent on the field v Swansea on Saturday…
The infographic above – created by our good friends at FootballFanCast.com – shows us exactly how busy Masuaku was against Swansea. Three chances created, two accurate crosses, one interception, one foul won and, more importantly, one assist is a pretty crazy return for someone only on the pitch for the final 12 minutes of a game.
So, do those 12 minutes alone give Bilic no choice but to start Masukau away at Burnley in couple of weeks time?
