West Ham 'monster' Issa Diop vows to get even more scary after Jose Mourinho praise

No way through: Diop halts Lukaku
REUTERS
Ken Dyer1 October 2018

The West Ham player Jose Mourinho described as a “monster” today took issue with the struggling Manchester United manager.

Issa Diop, a £22million signing from Toulouse during the summer, was singled out by Mourinho following the Hammers’s 3-1 victory.

“Their centre-backs had a fantastic match,” said Mourinho. “Congratulations to the scout who found Diop, a monster who dictated everything.”

Mourinho, under increasing pressure at Old Trafford, was clearly sending a message to his own club’s scouting system but his comments highlighted an outstanding performance from the young French defender.

It was West Ham co-owner David Sullivan who first identified Diop as a possible signing, with manager Manuel Pellegrini and director Mario Husillos deciding to move for the 21-year-old.

Diop, though, believes there is still much room for improvement for him and his partnership with his central defensive colleague Fabian Balbuena.

“Yes, it was a good performance against Manchester United,” said Diop. “We kept the ball well and tried to make a difference. We won the game so I am happy.

“It is good for my confidence but I don’t think I played that good. I need to improve and work harder.”

Diop, who has played for France at every age group level up to the Under-21s, was made captain of Toulouse when he was 20 and is fast becoming a favourite at the London Stadium.

In Pictures | West Ham vs Manchester United | 29/09/2018

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Speaking about his partnership with Balbuena, he said: “You need to learn quickly. We need to keep improving our understanding because we have just played a maximum of 10 games. He is a very good defender so it is easy to play with him because he is strong and has a lot of experience.”

It was far from an easy start here for Diop, one of five children brought up by his mother, Isobel, in Toulouse.

He said: “All the compliments need to go to my mother because she gave us good education.

“This is a good West Ham team but I think we can do better. We need to improve our results but I think we are on the way.

“The Premier League is very quick. It is box-to-box while in France, it is more tactical and the teams don’t go as full in attack. In this league all the strikers are very strong, physical and quick.

“When I came to West Ham, everybody helped me, spoke with me and was very nice with me.”

Diop is also confident that, under Pellegrini, he will continue to improve.

“He’s a big coach,” said the defender. “He’s coached at some of the best clubs in the world. He’s very experienced and we can only improve with him.”

Pellegrini said: “One of the reasons I was delighted with the way we played was because it was for the West Ham fans. I understand that they started the first four games with defeats but we bought some players, maybe not players they knew, but I always felt the fans were behind us, so this is a win for them.”

'Delighted': Manuel Pellegrini
AFP/Getty Images

“We continued playing in the same way and improving because without believing in your performance it’s very hard to be a good team.”

Midfielder Carlos Sanchez, meanwhile, faces a long lay-off after sustaining a knee ligament injury in West Ham’s 8-0 EFL Cup win over Macclesfield last week.

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