West Ham managed to come from 2-0 down to record a 2-2 draw against Arsenal at the London Stadium earlier today.
The Hammers showed great spirit to overturn a woeful start to the clash in east London, which saw them go 2-0 down after just ten minutes.
Despite West Ham’s fightback, one player still came in for criticism from Matthew Upson.
What’s the story?
Well, Upson – who made 146 appearances for West Ham – is not happy with Lucas Paqueta, who he effectively called a luxury player when covering the London derby for BBC Radio 5 Live.
The 43-year-old said: “How many times have you watched West Ham this season and you’re not even sure if Paqueta is on the pitch? He’s a player that you have to have the lion’s share of the ball to get the best from him.
“This is another big part of the problem, players like him coming to the club – players who are the next level up, you have to say in terms of footballers.
“But are they set up to accommodate a player like him and how they play? That is the confusion with West Ham at the moment whereas last season and the season before it was very clear what they did, and they did it so effectively.”
Regardless of today’s result, Paqueta has been a major disappointment this season.
West Ham spent a club-record £51m on the Brazil international back in August, although they have only got two goals in 31 appearances back from the South American.
How Paqueta performed in West Ham 2-2 Arsenal
While there is a strong case to back up what Upson is saying about Paqueta, the 25-year-old was actually one of West Ham’s better players against Arsenal.
WhoScored shows that the West Ham No.11 made two key passes earlier today – only Aaron Cresswell and Vladimir Coufal registered more for the Hammers. He also won the penalty for Said Benrahma to make it 2-1.
Paqueta also embarked on two successful dribbles – no West Ham player recorded more – while only Declan Rice made more passes than him on a day where the Irons struggled for possession.
Of course, the Brazilian must do more to warrant his price tag, but he did well against the Gunners on a day where Upson was critical of him.
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