Arthur Masuaku

Image from: zimbio.com

Fuka Arthur Masuaku





Current Club: West Ham United.

Previous Clubs: Olympiakos, Valenciennes.

Loan Clubs: N/A.





International: N/A.

Trophies Won: Greek SuperLeague 2015, 2016. Greek Cup 2015.





Prior to last season, Masuaku was a lightning fast left back with no defensive nous at all. That lack of defensive ability had seen him on the outside as a back up, until a change to a back three found him given a chance at left wing back. Suddenly he looked natural, he had the pace and stamina to get up and down the flank but his lack of positional sense was no longer such a major problem, with the extra cover in centre half.



Masuaku is lightning quick, very tricky but is not the best at working back, weak in the tackle and a defensive liability a lot of the time. However, going forward he can make up for his defensive weakness. The big problem is his trickery often leads him into runs down blind alleys and his delivery is not always the best. His consistency is a problem for him.



Due to having weaknesses defensively, he can have bad games when he is targeted and balls played in to the space behind him. He can also have good games when Masuaku is free to attack, pushing the opposition wideman back onto the full back. He lacks intelligence in his play, which is why playing wing back, with the extra space provided in that role, suits him. He does not have to work space in that role, it is there for him to use.



A lot of his problems are one that can be eradicated by experience and coaching, if the right things are taught him. Technically he is very good, with a nice touch on the ball and can dribble, beating a man with a nice piece of skill, as well as with pace. However his end product can be lacking, he will often overdo it on the ball, rather than getting it in quickly and to the right areas.



The biggest issue he has to correct is his defending, he just needs to learn to work back a bit harder and get goalside of an attacker. I would not expect him to suddenly develop the ability to produce clean challenges, but he can learn basic little things, such as getting his body in the way and ensuring an attacker has to do something to get the ball past him. Just that little improvement in his game would make him a much better player for very little effort on his part. That no doubt explains why so many teams have been tracking him.