West Ham boss David Moyes found time to praise Issa Diop after our defeat to Southampton in the FA Cup last night.
The Hammers actually played well in spells last night but the tide was turned by Southampton in two key moments.
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Saints left-back Romain Perraud scored an absolute wonder goal against the run of play in the 31st minute.
Michail Antonio equalised early on in the second-half and it then looked like there would be only one winner.
Craig Dawson then gave away a penalty in the 69th minute, however, and the game turned once again. James Ward-Prowse subsequently slotted home from the spot before Armando Broja ended any hope West Ham had of making a comeback with a fine solo goal late on.
It was a bitterly disappointing defeat but Moyes believes that one West Ham player in particular put in a top-class performance…
David Moyes singles out West Ham player for praise after Southampton defeat
Moyes spoke flatteringly about West Ham centre-back Issa Diop after Southampton progressed through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at St Mary’s last night.
The 25-year-old has been the target of heavy criticism recently but in all fairness to him, he was very good last night, as he was last time he played against Leicester City.
Diop has all of the attributes needed to succeed at the very highest level. And give him his due, he performed admirably last night especially considering the fact that he was operating at left-back when Pablo Fornals went off!
And Moyes chose to praise the 6ft 4in defender, when speaking to reporters after Southampton beat his West Ham side last night, as quoted by Football.London:
“I thought Issa Diop played as well as anybody tonight, playing slightly out of position and I thought he did a really good job.”
Diop would have taken a much needed confidence boost from his performance yesterday.
The 25-year-old, signed from Toulouse nearly four years ago, has been incredibly poor for the Hammers over the past 18 months.
His performance for West Ham against Southampton last night would have made Moyes and the club’s fans think that maybe he does have some kind of future at the London Stadium.
Southampton deserved to go through to the next round of the FA Cup, we just weren’t good enough. Moyes will know that.
Diop can hold his head up high, however. And there haven’t been many times where we’ve said that over the last couple of years.
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