By Louis Nixon

Soungoutou Magassa was one of the best performers on the pitch against Fulham.

It was a performance of excellence, it was a performance that deserved to be matched with at least a point, if not three points. He seemed to pick up the pieces from anyone who dropped the ball or lost focus in any part of the pitch. 

The young Frenchman has really come into his own since entirely integrating himself into our midfield, and along with Potts plus Fernandes, they seem to be what lights a fire in our hope monitor each time we play!

Against Fulham, Magassa managed to not only be the best player for West Ham but the best player on the pitch. He had the most tackles of any in the match with five, he was also the most fouled player on the pitch, which was due to him driving the ball up the pitch and having to enter their final third on several occasions, seeing as no one else was willing to make runs into an attacking opportunity. 

In addition to his attacking abilities, he also dominated the midfield, winning the most duels across anyone in the match, with nine duels won. 

To put it into perspective, Magassa had more, or the same amount of touches in Fulham’s box as Lucas Paqueta and Summerville did, two of whom played as forwards, the other was a midfielder… 

Boos rang around the London Stadium as Magassa was taken off in the 83rd minute, which also emphasised how good his performance was and unfortunately, the Hammers would concede three minutes after his departure from the pitch, though it would be harsh to say that his exit directly led to Fulham’s goal.

Overall, many fans would suspect the young Frenchman to start for the foreseeable future and for the game against Brighton in a couple of days time, as he’s quickly becoming a pivotal player and a fan favourite amongst all the chaos.