Not many players from West Ham’s side came out with a lot of credit from the 5-0 defeat to Manchester City, and Aaron Cresswell received a fair amount of flak.
The 29-year-old was named as captain in the absence of the injured Mark Noble, but he was part of a defence that was carved open at will by the Premier League champions yesterday. Supporters on Twitter were not impressed by his display:
Terrible Cresswell, not premier leauge standard now.
— James Robertson (@JARobertson92) 10 August 2019
Creswell too slow should have had Arthur where was he?
— Lynda M Lynch (@Hammer50_WBA) 10 August 2019
Hope masuaku starts next week
— Heavenly Haller (@HeavenlyHaller_) 10 August 2019
Masuaku > cresswell ?
— ?Luke Evans⚒ (@TheLukeEvans17) 10 August 2019
He doesn’t even deserve to be in the squad next week
— JJ ? (@veryupsetfan) 10 August 2019
Not in the business of blaming individual players but Cresswell is not a captain. He hasn’t displayed any sort of leadership qualities since he arrived. It’s a poor decision to have him captain. Wilshere, Fab or The General are better options when Noble doesn’t start.
— Moggy (@JMoggy36) 10 August 2019
Pretty sure Arfur will come in for Cresswell baffled how he got the armband today as well.
— STAN WHUFC (@davestan64) 10 August 2019
Very sloppy, you need to work on your attacking and most importantly your crossing, you get paid ALOT of money and you still can’t cross.
— Matt ??⚒ (@_AceScorpion_) 10 August 2019
Manager Manuel Pellegrini’s decision to focus on signing attacking players in the summer was a surprise, considering the Hammers shipped 55 goals in the league last campaign.
Cresswell could be replaced by Arthur Masuaku for the game against Brighton next weekend but it must be said that the Congolese international isn’t exactly an improvement defensively.
Still, West Ham were facing a very talented City side and they will want to make amends when they travel to the South coast and play the Seagulls on Saturday.