West Ham fans’ idea of their strongest team now is a lot different to the idea they had way back in the summer after the transfer window had closed when Manuel Pellegrini was in charge. One man who none of the fans would have even factored in was the impressive Jeremy Ngakia.
The young right-back was a West Ham youth player at the start of the season, spending his time playing in the club’s ‘Academy of Football’, yet now he’s a fully-fledged member of the first team and has had impressive displays in the Premier League, earning himself a spot in the senior squad permanently.
The youngster came in and played in the loss at Anfield, replacing the injured Ryan Fredericks in the team after the former Fulham man was injured against Manchester City in the previous fixture, and it’s hard to see a way in which Ngakia is displaced now.
So far this season, the 19-year-old’s two Premier League performances have both come against Liverpool, and in both games, he’s put in a very good shift, especially the more recent one at Anfield, as he played a massive part in the game at both ends of the pitch.
Across his 90 minutes, he won three aerial duels, five tackles and made three interceptions and four clearances (WhoScored). His display was sublime, and now the fans will be up in arms if the ageing Pablo Zabaleta is played ahead of Ngakia given his dynamism.
Who would you rather see playing?
Ryan Fredericks
Jeremy Ngakia
When Fredericks make a return to fitness there will be a real headache for Moyes, but given how strong Ngakia has been in his two games, if he can put together a string of impressive displays then there’s no reason why he can’t become a permanent fixture in the starting eleven ahead of Fredericks.
