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.
Paqueta was among the Irons’ star performers and was toying with Arsenal’s defender in the final minutes, attempting an audacious rainbow flick over the head of Fabio Vieira, to the delight of the London Stadium crowd.
Opinions are often split over showboating, with Paqueta’s Brazil team-mate Richarlison heavily criticised for doing keepy-ups during Tottenham’s win over Nottingham Forest last term. Moyes, though, had no complaints.
“I’m changing - I loved it!” the Hammers boss laughed. “I’m definitely going soft. I suppose being Scottish, we’re not trained to act in that style. If you’re Brazilian, you do and we’re going to try and embrace it.
"Obviously, there’s a limit. I think if the game had been 0-0 he might have been getting a different outcome from me. I’m not going to say what I might have done to him if I was an opposition player!”
Paqueta was a transfer target for Manchester City last summer, with the treble-winners failing with an initial bid for the playmaker before cooling their interest after it emerged he is the subject of an ongoing FA investigation into alleged gambling breaches.
Paqueta denies any wrongdoing and has so far defied any off field distractions to start the new season in fine form, though he will be missing for Saturday’s trip to Brentford because of suspension.
“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 added. “Sometimes I might need to just shut my eyes and say I didn’t see that happening!”
