West Ham boss David Moyes says he had no problem with Lucas Paqueta’s showboating against Arsenal in midweek, admitting: ‘I’m going soft – I loved it!’
The Hammers cruised to a 3-1 victory in the Carabao Cup fourth-round tie, setting up a quarter-final meeting with Liverpool at Anfield next month.
To the pleasure of the London Stadium crowd, Paqueta, one of the Irons’ standout players, was playing with the defender for Arsenal in the closing minutes and attempted an outrageous rainbow flip over Fabio Vieira’s head.
Showboating is a topic that frequently divides opinion. Richarlison, Paqueta’s Brazilian teammate, received harsh criticism for doing keepy-ups during Tottenham’s victory over Nottingham Forest in the previous season. But Moyes had no grievances.
“It was amazing—I’m evolving!” The chief of Hammers laughed. “I’m going to become softer. Being Scottish, I guess we’re not used to acting that way. We’re going to try to accept you if you are Brazilian, which you obviously are.
There is, of course, a limit. Had the score been 0-0, I believe I would have given him a different result. I won’t discuss what I might have done to him if I had been a rival player.
Manchester City had been interested in signing Paqueta since the previous summer. However, they withdrew their interest after they learned that the playmaker was the focus of an FA investigation into possible gambling violations.
Though he will be suspended, Paqueta denies any wrongdoing and has so far avoided any distractions off the field to start the new season in good form. On Saturday, the team travels to Brentford.
“Look, that’s what we’ve got, and I want him to grow, I want to live with him, I want him to improve, and I want us to keep enjoying him,” Moyes continued. “There are times when I might have to close my eyes and claim I didn’t see that coming!”
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