West Ham’s on-loan midfielder Carlos Soler was clearly delighted with his role in the Hammers’ 2-0 Monday night win against Newcastle—and rightly so.
The PSG star played alongside [Lucas Paquetá](https://www.claretandhugh.info/lucas-paqueta-bio/) in central midfield, and the pair looked like they’d been doing it for years, such was their understanding. The partnership brought a whole new dynamic to the Hammers team, which had previously looked far too reliant on wide areas for creativity.
By dropping the more defensive Guido Rodríguez and bringing in Soler as Paquetá’s dance partner, West Ham were able to control large parts of the game. It was a switch that has not gone unnoticed in Lopetegui’s and Soler’s homeland of Spain, where very few were surprised by the former Valencia man’s creative play.
To be fair to Soler, he never stood much of a chance of standing out in his previous start on the Hammers’ left wing, but he blossomed in a more central role in the [Premier League](https://www.claretandhugh.info/premier-league-bio/) game at St. James’ Park.
“I loved it out there, and I love playing,” Soler said. “I always want to play, but I know it’s the Head Coach who decides the line-up. I was really pleased to be out there from the start today and in contact with the ball.
“We had a lot of the possession, created lots of good chances, and we played really well. I think we just all enjoyed playing together as a team, and we deserved to come away with the right result in the end.
“We are a very good team with good players, and we showed that tonight. We haven’t been in the position that we want to be in the table, but we’ve shown what we can do, and hopefully this can be the start of a really successful season.”