Thierry Henry has sent a stern message to ‘unplayable’ West Ham star Lucas Paqueta about his performance levels.
There was enormous excitement at West Ham around the record signing of Paqueta from Lyon.
The arrival of the Brazilian midfield star caught the imagination more than any other in a busy summer window at the London Stadium.
But it is fair to say things have not worked out so far for Paqueta or West Ham.
The £51m man’s performances for Brazil in Qatar caught the eye. And they sparked inevitable questions as to why David Moyes has not – as yet – got anything like that kind of tune out of the midfielder.
Thierry Henry sends a stern message to ‘unplayable’ West Ham star Lucas Paqueta about his performance levels
Paqueta was largely anonymous again as West Ham continued their miserable run with defeat to Arsenal in the first game of the Premier League restart.
He worked hard for the team but was really poor on the ball, giving possession away far too often.
Before the game live on Amazon, Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was discussing West Ham’s poor season so far.
And Henry sent a stern message to ‘unplayable’ West Ham star Paqueta about his performance levels.
“I’m big on Paqueta,” Henry said on Amazon.
“I think it’s time for you to perform. Really!
“Declan Rice is doing what he’s doing but usually those guys (defensive midfielders) who makes sure that you’re not going to lose the game (not) to be able to win it for them.
“And Paqueta is not doing that right now and it takes time to adapt to this league – and I know – but I’m expecting him to do a bit better. I’m a huge fan of him, I covered the French league as you guys know, and when he was at Lyon he was – at times – unplayable.
“But those are the guys we should ask the question of ‘well why are you not putting the ball in the back of the net’? Yes it is a different league but I’m just saying that hopefully he will come good for West Ham, those are the guys that I expect to make West Ham win.”
We’re yet to see an unplayable Paqueta performance in a West Ham shirt. He will need to start producing some soon if the Hammers are going to avoid being drawn into a season-long relegation dogfight.
The defeat to Arsenal leaves West Ham just two points off the bottom of the table.