Alan Shearer lavishes praise on ‘immense’ West Ham defender

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West Ham United inflicted Tottenham Hotspur’s first defeat at their new ground yesterday. Michail Antonio’s goal was enough to earn a win against a side with one eye clearly set on Ajax in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night.

Tottenham did huff and puff but unfortunately found Issa Diop in fine form. BBC pundit Alan Shearer was certainly impressed. He told Match of the Day (28/04/2019) just how ‘immense’ the Frenchman had been.

“A towering display. Everything he did was almost perfect.

“Reading of the game, tackling, pace, getting in front of forwards as he did constantly all afternoon. The awareness of what’s going on in and around him. He was immense…”

TBR’s View

The Hammers fought off a lot of competition to win the race for the 22-year-old in the summer. As reported by the London Evening Standard, West Ham beat the likes of Everton, Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund to the £22 million capture.

After settling in slowly, he now looks like being worth every penny.

Diop did a fine job of keeping Tottenham, including the in-form Heung-min Son at bay, throughout 90 minutes yesterday.

It was a fine display and showed off the multi-faceted nature of his defensive talents.

Judging by Shearer’s comments, the Newcastle legend would not have liked facing Diop on form like this. If that is not a ringing endorsement for a players form and ability, then what is?