The change in Soungoutou Magassa in a short period is quite remarkable. Against Manchester United he was man of the match, tackling, intercepting, blocking – and scoring – his way to huge accolades.
But two months ago, the young midfielder was in a very different place after gesticulating in anger and heading down the tunnel post- Leeds without acknowledging the travelling fans, playing just 11 minutes.
As Roshane Thomas writes in the nytimes.com/athletic, West Ham’s latest young hero has applied the old adage of ‘you either get bitter or get better’ with some pretty remarkable results:
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[After the Leeds encounter] “A member of West Ham’s non-playing staff ran to console the midfielder. Two months later, it is opposition players who are chasing Magassa. He was everywhere against Manchester United and is developing a promising midfield understanding alongside academy graduate Freddie Potts, 22.”
Potts, Fernandes, Magassa – The Hammers new trio of midfield mobility. And the oldest is just 22.
Unwittingly, one of Graham Potter’s last acts before losing his job was to bring in Magassa and Fernandes who, along with homegrown Potts have fixed the Hammers’ legendary slow and stodgy midfield.
The Athletic quotes Magassa’s team mate Mateus Fernandes – the old head on young shoulders at the heart of the Irons new-look midfield:
“He is strong and had a very good game but now he needs this level of performance in the next game. Even when he didn’t play, he would arrive to the training ground and train like a beast. This is the difference between the good players and the very good players. We need this in our team.”
And the joy visibly overflowed from Magassa after the frustrating start to his Hammers career as he celebrated his late equaliser on Thursday evening. As it did from around Hammers’ fans living rooms as the Irons took away a point from Manchester.
His last goal? In the Champions League, no less, against the mighty Benfica. I’ll bet he didn’t celebrate any more joyously than at Old Trafford on a wet Thursday night.