Malick Diouf has one ‘big problem’ at West Ham which Nuno must help him fix

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El Hadji Malick Diouf was never supposed to be – or expected to be, for that matter – the finished article when he moved to Premier League outfit West Ham United from Czech champions Slavia Prague.

This, lest we forget, is a left-back who will not even celebrate his 21st birthday for another couple of months.

And while he played a major role in Slavia’s latest domestic triumph – seven goals and four assists was certainly a sign of things to come from this most swashbuckling of widemen – but West Ham United signed not a proven, established performer.

More, a youngster with only 34 senior league appearances under his belt in the Czech Republic and Norway.

Such context is worth remembering, then, on the back of El Hadji Malick Diouf’s punishing afternoon at the Emirates.

Though former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg feels Diouf was hard done by in the build-up to Arsenal’s second goal – the penalty dispatched by Bukayo Saka should have been a free-kick, according to the law – this was a day in which the Senegal international’s attacking qualities were restricted and his defensive deficiencies brutally exposed.

Karel Poborsky, the Czech icon who joined Manchester United from Slavia Prague in 1996, certainly feels that this is a ‘big problem’ Diouf must fix.

Karel Poborsky says Malick Diouf must fix ‘big problem’ at West Ham United

Fortunately, the one-time Tromso starlet has plenty of time on his side.

And, under Nuno Espirito Santo, West Ham’s number 12 will be supported by a coach who has constructed two of the Premier League’s finest backlines at similarly-sized clubs in Nottingham Forest and Wolves.

Max Kilman credits Nuno with developing him into a solid top-flight centre-half at Molineux, for instance.

While there are no doubts about his attacking qualities – Malick Diouf could join Jarrod Bowen and Paolo di Canio while becoming only the third Hammers player to reach double figures for assists in a Premier League season this century – the finest full-backs in the game tend to prevent goalscoring chances as well as create them.

“Defenders are supposed to defend from the word go,” Poborsky told Canal Plus. “And [against Arsenal], we saw that he has big problems with that.

“[This] was an atypical match for West Ham and I hope for Diouf as well.”

Diouf looking forward to developing under Nuno Espirito Santo

On a day when Konstantinos Mavropanos dominated Viktor Gyokeres and the aforementioned Kilman held his own too in front of an impressive Alphonse Areola, Diouf’s flying start to life in England suffered a rare setback.

But if Nuno can emulate the success he enjoyed with Matt Doherty and Jonny Otto at Wolves, plus Neco Williams and Ola Aina at Nottingham Forest, days like this will hopefully be few and far between for the Dakar-born dynamo.

“The quality is outstanding,” Everton icon Andy Hinchcliffe told Sky Sports after Diouf produced an ‘extraordinary’ run and cross in the build-up to Jarrod Bowen’s equaliser at the Hill Dickinson Stadium five days before that Arsenal reverse.

“We are really enjoying working with the new head coach because he’s a good guy and already has the experience of the Premier League,” Diouf later told the club’s official website. “He can help us and help me as a young player, and that’s what we need.

“I think we can learn also about him, and we are all happy to welcome him here. We started with a positive result, and we can have a good season with him. 

“You can see from the whole team, there is a lot of new energy. We have something here, and we have a lot of good players. The quality is there, and everything can change. We just need time. We have to be calm and take our time.

“We must play as a team, defend together and attack together. And I think if we do that, we will finish high in the table.

“We’re working hard because we need a lot of communication between the players. I think we adapted well in the first game [at Everton]. It’s only set pieces, and we know we need to be better collectively. But, overall, I think with the back four, we were very stable.

“We just have to do what the head coach tells us to, and I think it will be better. 

“We need to listen to him and do what he says, and we have to do it properly. I think the set pieces are about the personal responsibility, and it doesn’t matter how long you work on it; it’s about making sure you do your own job, and we have to take responsibility to defend properly.”