Lucas Paqueta has proven to be a sensational player for West Ham United over the past 20 months or so.
West Ham brought Lucas Paqueta to the London Stadium from Lyon in the summer of 2022 for around £50 million.
The Hammers fans absolutely love him and he recently endeared himself to us even more so when batting off a reporter’s question about a potential move to Manchester City by saying he’s fully focused on West Ham and that he has too much respect for us as a club to talk about other sides.
David Moyes is not well known for favouring flair players, and usually prefers workhorses like Jarrod Bowen, Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal.
Players like Paqueta and Said Benrahma have historically not been flavour of the month with Moyes, but it’s interesting how two players with similar skillsets have fared so differently under the Scot.
Earlier this season, the West Ham boss lost all trust in Benrahma, according to Give Me Sport’s Dean Jones.
The former Brentford attacker was backed up by 80% of the Hammers fans in his battle against Moyes, but now Paqueta has proven the majority of us wrong, and has made the Algeria international look very silly indeed as far as I’m concerned…
Lucas Paqueta proves West Ham fans so wrong
The 26-year-old Hammers star has just been recalled to the Brazil national team squad, after a nine month hiatus.
He deserves his recall after showing some truly sensational form for West Ham in the Premier League and Europe this season.
Whilst away with Brazil, Paqueta praised his manager David Moyes to the absolute hilt, as quoted by WHUFC.com:
“My relationship with David Moyes is very good. It is a healthy relationship. We talked about this. He wanted me on the team because of what I did last season. Without a shadow of doubt, the support he gave me… it was essential. He was special for me and his support was important for me. He said he wanted me playing in the team – that confidence was very important for me.”
Now, that admission from Paqueta really is surprising, given Moyes’s reputation as a harsh taskmaster who struggles to get the best out of flair players.
The Hammers boss received huge criticism for his management of Said Benrahma during the Algerian’s time at the London Stadium – the winger himself took a dig at the Scot in a recent interview.
However, Moyes is clearly someone who arguably our best player appreciates, and that is nice to hear, considering the unfair agenda against our gaffer’s man management skills.
Lucas Paqueta speaking so highly of West Ham manager David Moyes will have given the Scot a big boost as well. Great to see from Lucas.
If you have some substance and end product to your attacking flair, Moyes will clearly back you to the hilt. Paqueta obviously has exactly that, whilst the same cannot be said for Benrahma unfortunately.
