Lucas Paqueta has sent a one word social media post after West Ham bowed out of Europe without him last night.
After losing to German powerhouse Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 on aggregate, West Ham were eliminated from the Europa League.
The Hammers gave the Bundesliga champions a real fight, putting on perhaps one of their greatest performances of the year.
That’s in spite of the absence of crucial players Konstantinos Mavropanos, Emerson Palmieri, and Lucas Paqueta.
West Ham recovered to take a 2-1 aggregate lead thanks to a well-earned first-half lead from Michail Antonio.
Before halftime, David Moyes’ team had numerous opportunities to tie the game but wasted them.
Star missing when it mattered most for West Ham
And it’s what finally cost them in their attempt to qualify for a third straight European semifinal, coupled with that game-winning goal in the dying seconds in Germany.
In the second half, West Ham simply ran out of steam.
The suspension of Paqueta and Emerson did not help either, and that contributed significantly to the lack of depth on the bench.
Due to his recent bad performance, Paqueta angered his boss and supporters by receiving a foolish booking at Leverkusen.
According to reports, Paqueta did not show up to support his teammates at the London Stadium last night.
Paqueta’s one word social post as Hammers bow out
In his absence, West Ham performed incredibly well, and it’s uncertain if he was truly present to cheer on his teammates.
Still, Paqueta was somewhere observing. And once West Ham exited Europe without him, he posted a single phrase on social media.
Paqueta, who is expected to sign for Man City this summer, shared a photo of Mohammed Kudus and the 1-1 result on Instagram Stories
And added the message “Orgulho,” which means “Pride,” along with emojis of hammers and hearts in his native Portuguese.
Would Paqueta have made the difference?
Whether Paqueta’s presence for the second game would have helped West Ham is hard to say.
He was annoying in the first leg and hasn’t been playing well since.
Paqueta is undoubtedly an excellent player. However, he occasionally overplays, which slows down West Ham’s attack and gives the opposition time to regain composure.
Without him, the Hammers appeared to be a more serious threat last night.
And he certainly would have started if he had been available.
However, I believe he would have made a significant impact in that second half. He may have assisted in finding an other method of creating chances when West Ham ran out of steam and Moyes’ team was unable to maintain their high-pressure approach.
However, the Hammers had to function without him due to his suspension. The rest is history, as they say.
